The Secret Life of Rarity
by GrimdarkBronyWriter
Summary: Rarity has a dark secret that she cannot share with anypony. A murderous secret as a matter of fact. She is Equestria's first active serial killer in 300 years and she has to balance her love of fashion, her family, her friends, and her urges to kill. This is the story of her mind. Note: This is NOT Cupcakes with Rarity.
1. First Blood

_Author's note: I have this story posted on Deviantart and under the name 'Bronywriter' but when I signed up for this website, I found that that name was already taken so I had to pick my current one. This story is rated M so if that is not your cup of tea…well…I warned you._

Rarity bounced around her mother happily, excited about the new turn her life was taking. "Am I really going to school Mommy? Am I?" Her mother laughed at the excitement of the tiny filly.

"Yes Rarity, your father and I have decided that you are of age to go to school."

"Am I going to like it Mommy? Huh, am I?" said Rarity with glee.

"Oh I think so." Said her mother with a smile.

"And maybe I'll get my cutie mark at school! Do you think I will Mommy?" asked Rarity happily. Her mother smiled down at her overjoyed daughter fondly and put a loving hoof on her shoulder.

"I think that my very special daughter will find her very special talent very quickly. I know that you love playing dress-up, maybe it has something to do with that?" said her mother. Before the excited filly could answer, her father came in.

"Well hello there Rarity, are you ready for school yet?" Rarity smiled and leaped onto her father's back.

"Yes dad! I'm ready as a butterfly that just came out of his cocoon!" she said before scratching her head. "Or something like that." Her parents laughed at the analogy. She put her saddlebag on and her parents led the bouncing filly out the door of their tiny house. Her parents didn't have much money and so they could only afford the smallest house on the outskirts of Ponyville. Rarity's father was literally a ditch-digger for the Ponyville sewer company and now that Rarity was going to school, her mother now had the opportunity to find whatever job she could to help finance Rarity's schooling. Both of them loved their daughter more than anything and would gladly give everything to her if it made her happy, but they both knew that they couldn't give her much.

As they approached the school, Rarity saw a dozen or so fillies her age, laughing and playing in the schoolyard. Rarity never really had much contact with other fillies her age because of where she lived, but the prospect of meeting some new friends made Rarity all the more excited. She ran over to the schoolyard as her parents went over to talk to her teacher. Rarity stopped in her tracks for a minute to get a look at the conversation. Her parents were happily chatting with a mare that looked like the most wonderful pony that you could ever meet and Rarity knew immediately that she would the best teacher in all of Equestria. At that moment, she heard a friendly voice behind her.

"Hi there, you must be the new filly in our class." Rarity turned around to see a filly about her age smiling at her.

"Why yes, my name is Rarity, what's yours?" she asked. She was making a friend, on her very first day!

"I'm Cheerilee, it's nice to meet you," she said, extending a hoof. Rarity shook it with glee. "So, you're the pony who lives on the outskirts right? Yours is the house beyond the edge of Town Hall?" Rarity smiled and nodded proudly.

"Yep! That's my house alright, I know it isn't the best, but it's home," she said, echoing a statement her parents had made many times.

"So this is the new poor kid then?" said a nasty voice from behind Cheerilee. "I knew she'd look like a moron." Cheerilee sighed in frustration and turned around to see two colts and a filly all smiling nastily at Rarity. One of the colts was an Earth pony with a red body and spiky green hair and no cutie mark. He seemed to be the leader of the group. The colt on his left was an Earth Pony with a light orange body and short tan hair and a hoofball as a cutie mark. The filly was a unicorn with a yellow body and black hair that fell to her shoulders and no cutie mark. Cheerilee glared at the trio.

"Dug, Kicker, Annie, what are you three doing here?" The trio just laughed at her.

"Just here to see the poor pony Cheerilee, relax. We heard they look like freaks and it's good to see we were right," said Dug, the one with the spiky green hair.

"I mean, look at her hair! It's so tacky," said Annie with a wicked giggle. Rarity blushed and put her hoof up to her perfectly styled curls. Were they actually tacky? She had always prided herself on her mane style but did it actually look foolish to other ponies? Cheerilee growled at them.

"Her mane is beautiful Annie, you wouldn't know beauty if it came up and bit you! Now back off and leave her alone!" said Cheerilee.

"Or what exactly?" said Kicker. "Are you going to tell teacher on us? Are you going to be a rat?"

"Lighten up Cheerilee, we're just having fun with the poor filly. I mean, surely we're not the first to remind her of her tragic situation right?" said Dug. Rarity's eyes began to fill with tears. She had never been so humiliated in all of her life than at this moment. Her tears just brought the bullies joy.

"Uh-oh, it seems the poor kid is crying now! Did we hurt her wittle feewings?" said Annie in a mocking tone. Rarity began sobbing and ran away. She glanced back to see Cheerilee yelling at her three classmates who were merely laughing. Rarity was horrified to see that her parents had already left, and that they wouldn't be back until later that afternoon. She couldn't face going to school now. Would the other students be just like those three? Would Cheerilee be the only one who stood up for her?

She kept running until she bumped into her teacher.

"Oh why hello, you must be Rarity, it's a pleasure to..." her teacher stopped when she saw that Rarity was crying. "What's the matter?" she asked. Rarity merely pointed to the schoolyard where Cheerilee was still arguing with the laughing bullies. The teacher frowned. "I see," she said in a business-like tone. "yes, I've had problems with those three before. You just go in and sit at your desk Rarity, don't you worry, I'll have a talk with them," said her clearly angry teacher. She looked down at the still sobbing Rarity who was still not calming down. She put a loving hoof on her shoulder. "Tell ya what Rarity, there's a small creek behind the schoolyard, just a little ways in that direction, why don't you go there and calm down for a while before you come back, does that sound good?" Rarity stopped crying and looked up at her teacher while trying for a small smile. She sniffled a bit and nodded. Her teacher smiled sympathetically at her. "Good, I'll see you later then."

Rarity slowly trotted over to the creek where her teacher had directed her. She walked a small way into a small forest near the school and within a few moments, she came into a clearing where she saw the most serene scene that she had ever seen. The area was surrounded by tall, majestic oak trees that were spaced far enough apart that golden rays of sunlight shone through the trees into the clearing. The grass underneath Rarity's hooves was soft and coo and the prettiest shade of green. But it was the creek itself that drew Rarity's attention. It was a small stream of water, not very wide and the water would only go up to the top of her hooves, but it trickled lazily along, seemingly uncaring of the events of the world around it. It was a very peaceful sight.

Immediately, the sound of the creek made her calm down as she entered the small clearing. She sat down on a rock and actually managed a smile. The tears had stopped at least, that was good. She reached her hoof into the creek and scooped up some water which she splashed on her face. The cool water running down her face made Rarity almost feel like her mother was there, drying her tears and telling her that everything was going to be okay. The feelings of terror and humiliation she felt at her encounter with the three bullies were fading away, as if it had never happened at all. When she was here, all by herself in this secluded part of the world, nothing was wrong, life was not terrible, her family was not poor, and she was doing okay. She wasn't sure why the creek had that particular effect on her, she had sat by other creeks before and this one was no different. But for whatever reason, this one felt like her own personal slice of heaven.

After about half an hour of relaxing, a nagging voice in the back of her head told her that she had better go back to school. Even if the bullies were there, the prospect of school was too exciting for her to pass up and she slowly got up and trotted back to school. As she exited the clearing, she turned back to it and promised herself that she would visit as often as possible.

When she entered the schoolhouse, her teacher was at the front of the class, lecturing on the upcoming school year and what she expected from her students. When she saw Rarity enter, she smiled at her and pointed towards an empty desk. To her delight, she was that Cheerilee was in the desk next to hers and motioned for Rarity to come over and sit next to her. Rarity smiled and happily walked over to the desk. She sat down and Cheerilee leaned in and whispered to her. "How are you doing Rarity?"

"Oh I'm feeling much better. What happened to those three?" she whispered back.

"They got suspended for a week. You won't see them for a while." Said Cheerilee with a smile. Rarity grinned and began listening to the teacher. She discovered that there was a sewing class offered during one of the periods and Rarity immediately jumped on the idea and signed up for the class.

Cheerilee walked Rarity home from school that day as it turned out her parent's couldn't pick her up that day because of work and the two chatted away, content for now in their friendship. It turned out that Cheerilee didn't live too far from where Rarity was living and they relished the prospect of getting to hang out after school together whenever they could. The day that had started out so terribly for her was really looking up.

Later that afternoon, as Rarity looked over the class schedules to see if there were any other extracurricular activities she wanted to try, she remembered the creek that her teacher had directed her to earlier that day. She smiled at the fond memory that he had gotten from it She had decided that it would be her place now. It was Rarity's Creek in her mind from that moment onwards and nopony was going to take it away from her. As she thought about her creek more, the thought crossed her mind that she hadn't really gotten a chance to really look over her creek with any scrutiny as she had been too upset by the day's events to really explore the area. She decided that now was as good of a time as any as her parents would not be home until very late and it was still early in the afternoon. She shut her book and happily walked out of the door, excited by the prospect of getting to explore her new personal area.

It was about a 20 minute walk from her house to the creek, but as each step brought her closer to her sanctuary, the excitement levels rose inside of her. She briefly thought for a moment how unfortunate it was that she could not teleport, otherwise she would have been there in an instant, but alas, she only had a rudimentary knowledge of magic. Her best skill at the moment was levitation and movement of objects, something that came in handy for when she was toying around with outfits and the style of her mane.

The run towards her special creek went quicker than she imagined and before she knew it, she was standing in her little clearing, The stream was flowing as serenely as ever and the trees were in full bloom. A robin was nestling in one of the branches of a nearby oak tree and chirping a happy song. Rarity laid down on the cool grass and sighed. She decided that life did not get any better than this.

"Well what do you know? The poor kid is here. Good job finding her Annie," said an all too familiar voice. Rarity's heart sank as she heard the malicious laughter of the three bullies. She bolted up and any hopes that she was just being paranoid ended here. Dug, Kicker, and Annie all stood in front of her, laughing at the cornered Rarity.

"No, please just go away!" said Rarity, trying her best not to lose control again.

"What's the matter Rat? We just want to talk to you." Said Dug with an evil smile.

"Yeah, we don't much like rats at this school. Did the teacher really need to know about what happened today? We were just poking fun," said Kicker.

"No, just go away! I don't want you here just leave!" said Rarity. How could they be so cruel? This was her private space and they were tainting it with their mere presence. She slowly tried to back away, hoping that something would happen that would end this.

"We just want to talk kid." Said Annie, with a grin that indicated that they wanted much more than to just talk.

"Let's show her what we do to rats in this school!" said Dug.

"Keep away from me!" said Rarity backing away more, looking for a weapon to defend herself. Her eyes landed on a large rock. It would have to do if they came closer.

"Or what?" said Dug. "It's just you and us out here. Nopony can save you now. If you try to tell anyone about us beating you up, well, let's just say that society doesn't care too much about the poor kids. Not when out parents actually have money!" the three advanced with Dug taking point.

"Leave me alone!" said Rarity who was surprised to find that she felt anger bubbling up inside of her. Anger fueled by dread and fear. Anger was not an emotion that Rarity had often felt and she had certainly never let it take control of her before.

"Get her!" said Dug who started running towards Rarity.

"I said leave me alone!" yelled Rarity. In that moment, rage overtook her. She used her magic to pick up the rock and she used all of her magical abilities to slam it as hard as she could into the side of Dug's head. He went down without a sound. In that instant, time seemed to stop for all three. Dug was lying on the ground, his eyes wide open and no movement was coming from him. A large pool of blood was forming around his head, flowing from the large gash in the side of his head. Kicker and Annie looked at Rarity in shock.

The clearing was silent for a few minutes. Rarity was trying to register what she had done and what to do about it now. She saw the blood starting to trickle into the stream, tainting the clear water. Tainting. His blood was tainting the pure water, just as the three of them had tainted her spot. Rarity had never really liked filth and avoided it when she could. Growing up in poor conditions meant that she was surrounded by uncleanliness and she had trained herself to tolerate it as best as she could. But with the events that had just happened, she realized just how horrible it was when filth was allowed to taint something so innocent and pure. She looked up at the two remaining ponies who were still staring in shock at the lifeless body of their leader. Annie was the first to speak up.

"Is...is he dead?" she asked, clearly shaken up from the sight. Rarity had no sympathy for her. She wasn't a pony, she was filth! Filth needed to be cleansed or else she would destroy Rarity's world. Kicker slowly trotted up to Dug's body and checked for a pulse. He looked back at Annie with fear in his eyes.

"He is dead! That wretch killed him! sShe..." his words were cut short by a rock to the head, the same rock that had taken the life of Dug. Kicker fell to the ground and the second he hit it, Rarity smashed his head with the rock again, and again, and again. Rarity noted that blood splattered out of the wound with every strike, each blow bringing forth more blood. She was getting splashed by specks of blood and her pristine coat was becoming dirty but for once in her life, she didn't care about that. The only thing that mattered to her was cleansing the filth. She stopped her assault and saw that Annie was looking in shock at the brutal killings of her best friends. She looked at Rarity for a brief moment before she screamed at the top of her lungs and ran like a bat out of hell for town. Rarity snarled and ran after her.

The ensuing chase was not a long one. As it turned out, Rarity was a far faster runner then Annie and within a few short moments, Annie was smacked in the head by Rarity's rock. Rarity walked over to Annie and discovered that, despite the head wound that was leaking blood, Annie was merely unconscious. Rarity supposed that because she had been running, she had not been able to use the same amount of force behind the blow that she had when she had killed the other two. Rarity paused to consider this new development. She could just kill her now in the same manner that she had killed Kicker, but in hindsight, he had gotten off too easily. No, Annie deserved a special send off. It wouldn't be the best she could do as time constraints prevented her from doing this for too long. Not to mention the fact that she still had to find a way to clean up Kicker and Dug. She groaned in frustration, this was going to be harder than she had originally thought. She dragged Annie back to where the bodies of Dug and Kicker were.

When she reached the bodies of Dug and Kicker, she saw the giant mess that she had made and she actually started to panic. How in Equestria was she going to get out of this one? She had never committed murder before. In fact, there hadn't been a recorded murder in Equestria for over 300 years. What was she going to do? She looked around and a thought struck her: The Everfree Forest. There was no shortage of predators in the forest, predators that would have no trouble disposing of her deeds. It would have to do for now. She would think up something better for next time. Wait, next time? Would she be doing this again? Rarity shook her head and pushed all thoughts of the future from her mind. She sighed as she began dragging Dug's body towards the edge of the forest. "One step at a time Rarity," she whispered to herself. "No need to go planning things before their time." She managed to get Dug's body a little ways into the forest. Content that nopony would find him before the predators did, she moved Kicker's body as well.

When she got back to the clearing, she saw that Annie hadn't woken up yet. Rarity cocked her head and checked on her. She didn't want her to have bled out before she got there, then she would not be able to have any fun with her. She put her hoof on her neck and to her delight; there was still a small pulse. Rarity immediately got to work stopping the flow of blood from her head. She put pressure on the gash and used some nearby leaves as a sort of dressing. It was absolutely ridiculous but it would have to do for now. It took a few minutes but eventually the flow of blood stopped enough that Rarity was content that Annie wouldn't die before Rarity could decide what to do with her.

All she could do right now was sit and wait for Annie to wake up. After a few minutes of silence, Rarity realized a potential problem once Annie woke up: her horn. Rarity wasn't sure what kind of magic Annie was capable of, but if she did wake up and got enough sense to use her magic, odds were that Annie could at least grab a rock as a weapon to use against Rarity. She sighed and got up. She went over to Annie's unconscious body and picked up the rock once more. However, she picked it up in her hooves instead of using her magic. This time, she wanted to feel the vibrations of rock hitting flesh and crushing bone. She did not get that when she had used magic and she wanted to know if it was a wonderful feeling or if it would sicken her. She used all of her might and swung it at Annie's small horn. Rarity heard a crack and felt the horn sever as the force of the blow snapped the horn clean off. At that exact moment, Annie woke up, screaming in pain from the shock of having her horn removed.

She writhed around in pain as Rarity watched her with interest. Nopony could hear them from where they were, but the high pitched squealing was starting to get annoying. Rarity groaned, she wished she would have thought this through more but right now, she couldn't think of anything else to do but hit Annie with the rock again. Sighing, she dragged Annie's body to where she had deposited Kicker and Dug's. However, this time what she saw when she got there was both terrifying and relieving. A trio of timber wolves was feasting on the remains of her first two victims. Rarity didn't dare go near them as she figured that she might be their dessert.

She slowly dragged Annie's body away to find some other means to get rid of the evidence. She looked up in the sky and saw that it was hardly 5:00. Her parents wouldn't be home for another 4 hours at least. She giggled in excitement at this and ran back to her home, stopping only to wash the blood that was splattered over her coat in the creek. When she arrived at her house, she immediately went into the small garage that was part of their house to begin searching for a suitable weapon to dispose of the final troublemaker. No, a rake would not do at all. A gardening trowel might be an interesting weapon for the future, but here it would just create a bigger mess if she used it to hack the body to pieces. She saw a barrel filled with assorted tools and began searching through that. Her eyes landed on a worn down shovel caked with mud. She smiled. Bingo.

She carried the cumbersome shovel back to her creek without incident. Nopony crossed her path but she doubted that she would draw much attention to herself at any rate. When she reached the creek, Annie's body was still there, undisturbed by nature. Rarity began digging around a bit to see if she could find a weak spot on the ground where she could dig a sufficient grave. She found the perfect spot underneath an old oak tree and began digging. At first, it was harder than she had originally expected, what with the shovel being almost as large as she was, but with her magic she was able to dig well enough.

As the hot sun burned overhead, Rarity was beginning to get tired out. She would definitely need a bath after all of the sweating she was doing during her work, but she did have a sizable hole going, easily deep enough to deposit the remains of her victim. She put the shovel down and massaged her head for a few moments. It had been a bit of a strain digging for that long and the effort had given her a small headache, but her work was finally finished. She looked up at the sky. It was going on 6:00 now, still plenty of time. She trotted over to Annie and to her surprise, Annie groaned. Rarity cocked her head, how in Ponyville was she not dead yet? She groaned in frustration as she picked up the rock once more to finish the job once and for all. However, before she went in for the fatal blow, a thought struck her. She smiled and put down the bloody rock. Annie was vaguely awake at this point and slightly coherent. She opened her mouth and whispered something. Rarity leaned in closer. "What's that dear?" she said.

"I...I didn't mean to, I'm sorry," said Annie weakly. Rarity straightened up and frowned.

"I don't care." she said and with that, she rolled Annie into the pit that she had dug. Annie was far too weak to do prevent anything that Rarity wanted to do to her and thus, she could only lie there and watch as Rarity walked away for a brief moment. When Rarity returned, she dropped Annie's severed horn on the ground next to her. Annie could only watch in horror as Rarity scooped the dirt back into the hole.

Rarity patted down the dirt and smoothed it out. Hopefully nopony would realize that the dirt had been dug up. But there was really no reason for anypony to come looking for them here. However...if they did...Rarity looked around at her clearing and saw that it really was a bloody mess. She hadn't thought about how she would clean up all of this blood! She bit her lip and started thinking. Nothing was coming to her mind, nothing that she liked anyway. How would she clean up the blood!?

All of a sudden, Rarity heard what to her was the most beautiful sound that she could have imagined at that moment, thunder. Her mouth broke out into a smile just as a torrent of rainwater fell on her. Celestia was clearly on her side today. She jumped up in joy and began bouncing around in a circle, giggling like the maniac that she was. The rain would wash away all of the blood! Her creek would be cleansed from the vileness that had tainted it. She was free from worry.

She ran back home as fast as she could, not even caring about the fact that she was soaking wet, it was the most cleansing feeling that she had ever felt. When she arrived back at her house, her parents were still away which suited Rarity just fine. She drew a hot, relaxing bath for herself and relived the memories of what she had just done. She searched her emotions, expecting to feel some regret for what she had done. The first kill could be considered self-defense. He was going to attack her after all, even the courts would agree with her that she had acted in defense of her well being. The other two kills though, those were for fun. To experience the feeling of just what it was like to murder another pony. She considered whether or not she would do it again. "Rarity, the events of today were certainly exhilarating, but I think it would be best for you and your family if you did not do it again," she muttered to herself.

"Oh but Rarity, we did everypony such a great service today. Now not only will they not taint my creek anymore, but they will leave the other children alone too."

"Yes that is true, but what happens if you get caught Rarity? Think of your parents Rarity!"

"Oh Rarity, you must have more faith than that. I think I should do it again, it was so wonderful."

"Well Rarity...if you are sure that nothing will go wrong."

"I assure you Rarity, I will do everything in my power to make sure nothing goes wrong."

"Well, okay Rarity." Rarity got up out of the tub and dried herself off. She used her magic to style her mane and tail to their normal perfect curls and sighed in contentment. Life was going her way now. She walked over to her class sign-up sheet and looked it over once again. She gave a little giggle as she circled the medical training and intro to psychology classes.


	2. Sister and Parents

Five Years Later

Rarity awoke to the sound of birds chirping and the wonderful smell of grass pancakes being made on the stove. The fragrant aroma helped wake her up as she imagined the tasty delights to come. She got out of her bed and stretched, spending a few moments to style her mane in her favorite style. It was being particularly difficult this morning as she had slept on it wrong and she had to actually pick up her curling iron, something she only used for hair emergencies, to get it to curl right. After a few minutes of what she would dramatically describe as combat with her hair, she finally managed to get it the way that it was supposed to be.

She harrumphed at her hair but stopped for a brief moment to admire her cutie mark. She had received it only a few weeks after taking care of those nasty little children five years ago. As such, she did not think it was mere coincidence that she had three gems on her flank. Three gems, three little foals, dead from her first murders. She giggled at the thought of her first kills. Oh how young and foolish she had been back then, it was still a surprise to her that she hadn't been caught. Why, if the rainstorm hadn't come long to wash her creek clean of any taint then she would almost certainly have been found out. No, she was much more careful these days.

She sighed happily as she reached under her bed for her special box. It was nothing special on the outside, just a small box carved from an oak tree. Any outsider would wonder what the significance was. As a matter of fact, the contents would be a mystery to any snoopers too. Rarity used her magic to lift the lid and inside was a simple rock. She placed the box down and gently, no, lovingly lifted the rock out of its resting place with her magic. She walked over to the center of her room, there was always a clear spot for her as she kept her room spotless at all times. Not much had changed in the last five years in terms of her cleanliness. If anything, thanks to her...secret activities, she was much more of clean freak than she was when she had made her first kill at the age of eight.

However, Rarity was 13 now and had certainly gotten better at her craft. She raised the rock into the air and swung it down as hard as she could. It hit only air this time, but she would never forget the moments in time when the rock had connected with pony skulls. Giggling again, she put the rock on the floor next to her. She summoned the box closer and sat down. This was a ritual she had done many times and she always loved it. She was a big believer in taking pride of ones work and the records of her work were the dearest things in the world to her. She took the second item out of the box; it was a piece of wood that fit perfectly into the bottom of the box. She pulled it out and examined it happily. It was a perfectly carved square of wood with obvious exceptions; the square had 26 gash marks in it. 26 gash marks, 26 ponies. Never once in her entire life had she regretted her actions. Oh sure they were objectively terrible to society, but not to her. To her it was just something that needed to be done, society's laws be cursed. She ran her hoof over the rock and the piece of wood, both wonderful reminders of the atrocities that she had committed.

The box itself was special to her too. Both it and the piece of wood were carved from a fallen tree from her creek. The creek itself was still as beautiful as ever for her. It was her place to be alone with her thoughts. It was how she kept herself so thoughtful and organized. Everypony should have a spot like that.

She remembered the fallout of the deaths she had caused. The entire town of Ponyville was frantic trying to search for the three missing foals. To Rarity's surprise, Cheerilee and her teacher were both just as upset about the disappearances as the rest of the town. Rarity was inwardly hurt by this a little as she felt that she had just done them both a great service and they didn't appreciate it at all! No matter though, they never actually did find the bodies, or all of them at least. Somepony had the bright idea to check the outskirts of The Everfree Forest and sure enough, bits and pieces of the missing colts were found. The whole town was in mourning after that. Rarity was annoyed by how they could all miss such vile little ponies, but she put on her mask of grief just the same.

At the funeral, the parents of Annie had wept beyond measure. Rarity had found this to be a silly display and felt no pity for them. It was their fault for raising such a beastly little filly. Her parents had moved away after that, not being able to bear being in Ponyville after the death of their daughter. At least, thought Rarity as she gazed at the fourth and fifth scratch marks on her counter, that's what the town thought.

Her endeavors had prompted a lot of research on pony serial killers throughout the ages of Equestria. Not counting herself obviously, there had been a grand total of 46 recorded pony serial killers. Most of them had been small time killers, caught after their first three or four kills and always for some silly little mistake like not cleaning up properly. Ponies could be so messy sometimes and for these particular ponies it was a fatal mistake, one Rarity would never make. Rarity had been delighted to know that, should she ever be discovered, she would easily rank as the deadliest. 26 kills in only five years were numbers that not even The Canterlot Killer had managed. The Canterlot Killer was a serial killer from 500 years ago and currently ranked as the worst serial killer in Equestrian history. Princess Celestia herself had performed the execution. At this point though, 22 kills in eight years were almost childish numbers to Rarity. He had been foolish though, he had an M.O. that was traceable, and it led to his ultimate downfall. Rarity had no such use for theatrics as the only thing she actually cared about was body count.

A knock on her door brought her out of her daydreaming of times past as her mother called from the other end. "Rarity, breakfast is ready!"

"Coming!" said Rarity in a sing-song voice. She placed the counter and the rock back in her box and locked it before placing it in its usual spot under her bed. She knew her parents would never find it as they knew to never go in her room. She walked down the stairs of the house humming a merry tune. She was glad to have an upstairs room now. When she had gotten her cutie mark and found the stash of gems in the rock, another thing she thought was no coincidence thanks to her experience a few weeks prior, her and her parents were able to afford a lovely house in the main Ponyville area. It had been a house that was only available because a grieving couple had recently 'moved out'. Rarity laughed at the irony of it all. She sat down at the table where her mother and father were happily gazing into each other's eyes. Each plate had a stack of grass pancakes on it and Rarity was eager to dig in.

She sat down and addressed her parents. "Good morning Mother, good morning Father, how are things with you this fine morning?" she said, using her magic to begin cutting her pancakes.

"Actually, before you dig in to this breakfast your father cooked, we have something very important to talk to you about." Rarity cocked her head curiously.

"Why Mother, whatever is the matter?" she said, half beginning to dread the answer.

"You're going to have a new little brother or sister Rarity," said her Father. Rarity's jaw dropped. There would be a new baby foal in the family? She would be getting a new sibling?

"I...I don't even know what to say Mother!" said Rarity.

"You Mother's due in five months. Are you surprised?"

"Am I ever!" said Rarity.

"Uh...are you happy?" asked Rarity's Mother nervously. Rarity only had to think of the answer for a brief moment.

"Am I ever!" she said. She jumped up into the air with a squeal of delight and hugged her mother. "Oh this is so wonderful, I can't wait to find out if it's a colt of a filly!"

"Based on the statistics...probably filly," said her father under his breath. Rarity paid no heed to the comment and instead went over and hugged him too.

"I'm sure we'll all be very happy either way," she said. She sat back down and began eating her pancakes. As she ate, she realized just how perfect life was for her. She had loving parents, her gem finding spell meant that she was financially secure for life, her clothes making skills were getting better each day and she was already in a position to buy up an old building in town for the business she was already planning to create, no one in Equestria suspected that she was the deadliest serial killer in history and now, she had a new brother or sister coming.

Rarity was in the waiting room at the hospital, hoping for the best. Her mother had been wheeled in to the E.R and was going to the delivery room a while ago and was getting ready to have the new baby. Rarity could only sit in the waiting room and count the seconds until someone came to get her but she was beginning to get restless, she had been sitting here for hours. She surveyed the spotless waiting room to see if there was maybe a fashion magazine in there that she could read while she waited. She always was trying to keep up with the latest fashion trends in Canterlot, the fashion capital of the world. Her eyes landed on a stack of magazines lying on a table a few chairs away and she trotted over to them and started searching for one she hadn't read yet. She groaned in frustration after a few seconds of searching, nothing new was in the stack. One of them was so old that the fashion trends it had advertized had gone out of style. Taffeta capes indeed. Rarity laughed at the silliness of it. She did find one that she had enjoyed earlier in the week about an up-and-coming designer named Hoity Toity. Rarity was always eager to get news on him as he was well on his way to becoming the most influential designer in Canterlot, a title that Rarity dreamed that she would one day hold. She picked the magazine up and began leafing through it again. However, before she could engross herself in the magazine entirely, she heard the most unbecoming voice behind her.

"Well howdy do there miss, you here waitin' on someone?" Rarity glanced behind her and saw an orange pony with long blonde hair that she kept tied back. She had three apples as a cutie mark and seemed to be about Rarity's age.

"Well, considering I am in a hospital waiting room, I think one can reasonably think the answer is yes," she said, a little more coldly than she intended but the other pony didn't seem to notice.

"I thought so, the name is Applejack," she said as she extended a hoof in greeting. Rarity saw that there was a lot of dirt under her hooves. Applejack clearly wasn't very clean but Rarity didn't want to be too rude.

"Oh yes, how do you do? My name is Rarity." She said stiffly. She shook Applejack's hoof briefly.

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you Rarity. What's goin' on with you?" she asked. Rarity already disliked Applejack. Not because she was dirty, although there was that too, but she was just so...loud and pushy. Rarity made a mental note to remember Applejack for...later events.

"Well, my mother is in the delivery room giving birth to my new brother or sister."

"Well congratulations!" said Applejack who seized Rarity's hoof once more and began shaking it vigorously. Rarity managed a smile that was closer to a grimace and pulled her hoof out of Applejack's grip.

"Yes thank you Applejack, and what are you doing here exactly?" she asked. Immediately, all of the happiness and vigor left Applejack's face. Rarity guessed that she was clearly acting overly happy to compensate for the bad feelings she was really feeling.

"Well, my Ma and Pa were just in a carriage accident. They were crossing the street and somepony didn't secure their carriage right. It rolled down the hill here it was positioned and..." Applejack began shedding tears now. "It hit them both. The docs around here are doing their best to patch them up." Rarity put on the mask of sorrow that she had become so adept at wearing during tragedies.

"Oh my goodness, that's horrible. Are they going to be alright?" Applejack merely shrugged.

"That's the worst part, not knowin'," she said.

"I'm sure they'll both be no worse for wear in no time at all," said Rarity. Applejack gave a small smile and wiped away her tears.

"That's mighty kind of ya to say Rarity, mighty kind indeed." Applejack's tears started anew and she threw her hooves over Rarity's shoulders and pulled her into a bear hug. "I'm so scared for them." Rarity immediately stiffened up at this but she still put a small bit of effort into putting her hoof on Applejack's shoulder as a sort of awkward return hug.

"I'm sure it will be fine," she said in her best attempt at a soothing voice.

"Thanks," said Applejack who continued to cry into Rarity's shoulders for a few more minutes. After a short while, Applejack managed to regain control and broke off the hug. "I...I'm sorry for dumpin' on you like that, I hardly know you and here I am tellin' you my worst problems."

'It's no trouble," said Rarity who believed that it was trouble for sure. "This awful thing is happening and you want to let it out." Before Applejack responded a doctor came through the door to the waiting room.

"Which one of you is Rarity?" he asked, surveying the two ponies. Rarity bolted up, eager to be away from this sad mess of a pony.

"I am sir!" she said perhaps a little too fast but Applejack didn't notice. He beckoned for Rarity to follow him.

"Your mother and your new baby sister are doing just fine. You can go see them now; they're in room 12, just down the hall."

"S...sister?" asked Rarity, a smile of joy spreading across her face. The doctor returned the smile.

"Yes indeed, congratulations Rarity, you have a new baby sister." Rarity jumped up and gave a shout of joy before bolting down to room 12. She burst through the doors and saw her mother holding a tiny bundle with her father's front legs wrapped over her mother's shoulders. Rarity rushed over to her mother's side and saw the tiny filly in her arms. She was the same shade of white that Rarity herself was and she had the most darling pink and purple mane complete with a tiny horn on top of her head.

"Isn't she just the most precious thing you've ever seen?" asked her mother. Rarity's eyes filled with tears of joy.

"Yes, yes she is!" said Rarity. Her mother extended her front legs and handed the newborn over to Rarity. Rarity gingerly sat on the floor and cradled her new sister. She looked up at her parents. "What's her name?"

"Well, we haven't thought of a name yet. We were hoping for a little bit of input from you," said her father.

"Well, she's just a little sweetie isn't she?" said Rarity. "I think that should be a part of her name don't you think?" At that exact moment, a bell began to ring in the distance from the Ponyville Tower signifying that it was 9:00 at night. "Bell...Belle? How about Sweetie Belle?" asked Rarity who looked expectantly up at her parents. Both of them smiled back at her.

"I think that's a wonderful name," said her mother. A doctor beside them nodded and went off to go make the birth certificate.

"Yes, Sweetie Belle," said Rarity softly. "My baby sister Sweetie Belle." Rarity relished this perfect moment in time and she almost wished it could go on forever. Once the doctor came back, he insisted that the newborn and her mother get some rest. Her father was allowed to stay with the two of them but the rules didn't allow for Rarity. She assured her parents that she would be fine at home alone. Celestia knows she had been alone on plenty of occasions before when her parents were working. She gave her parents one final hug for the night, kissed Sweetie Belle's forehead and exited the room.

She skipped happily from the room. She had a baby sister. She was about to give another squeal of joy when she remembered that she was in a hospital. Squeals of joy weren't very ladylike anyway. She passed by one of the rooms and heard crying coming from inside. Crying that sounded vaguely familiar. She stopped in her tracks and looked at the door, room 6. She looked at the door and saw that it was slightly open and debated with herself for a moment. "It's wrong to snoop like that Rarity," she said to herself. She began walking away before turning back with an eager grin. "Oh, but it's so much fun Rarity," she said. She opened the door slightly and glanced in.

When she saw what was inside, she immediately regretted her decision to snoop around. She saw Applejack inside, her hooves wrapped around a sorrowful looking doctor, the same one who had gotten her to tell her that her sister had been born, weeping openly. Behind the two of them were two beds with two ponies covered in a sheet on them. On a bedside table was a worn down cowboy hat. The doctor was muttering something to Applejack, trying to get her at least a little calm. After a few minutes of this, Applejack managed to gain a little control and she broke away from the doctor. She walked over to the bed on the right and kissed the head of the pony underneath. "G...goodnight Ma," she said before walking over to the other bed. She repeated the action "Goodnight Pa, I'll see you two...l...later then," she said, barely keeping it together. A few more tears flowed from her eyes and she began walking towards the door. Rarity was about to move but saw that Applejack had stopped. Applejack walked over to the bedside table and grabbed the cowboy hat off of the table and placed it on her head. She turned towards the doctor. "Thanks for everythin' doc. I know you did all ya could."

Rarity almost felt sorry for Applejack. She had seen this of course, her victims' families would act this way whenever their love ones would disappear. But for the first time, Rarity was actually moved by the unadulterated sorrow she saw. She moved away from the door and thought about what her next move would be. Rarity almost saw it as a kindness to Applejack, to end her life now. Her parents had clearly meant a lot to her and Rarity could think of no better way to ease Applejack's sorrow then by reuniting them.

As she walked down the halls of the hospital trying to find an exit so she could plan for her attack on Applejack, she heard her name being called. She turned to see Applejack standing behind her. "Oh, hello Applejack."

"HI...how's your mother?" she asked, clearly trying not to break down again in front of this pony she hardly knew.

"Oh yes, she's fine as is my new baby sister...I heard about your parents," she said. it surprised Rarity that she had genuine sorrow Applejack. For whatever reason, Applejack's loss did make Rarity feel sorry for her which merely gave her the resolve to do her part in easing the pain.

"Yeah...I know this is too much to ask seein' as how I hardly know you and all, but would you mind walkin' me home tonight? I...I gotta talk to someone right now or I'll go nuts," she said. Rarity grinned inwardly at the opportunity that Applejack had just presented her. She knew just the spot to do it if she could just get Applejack there.

"Why of course darling. You go ahead and talk about whatever you need to and I'll listen." Applejack thanked Rarity and the two began walking towards Applejack's house. Applejack talked about her parents the whole time. She talked about her favorite memories with them, how she hoped they were in a better place, and how she hoped they were proud of her. All the while, Rarity was leading Applejack to a spot in the woods where she often took victims for their final moments. Applejack was so wrapped up in everything that had happened to her that she didn't even notice. She just continued to blindly followed Rarity's lead.

Applejack continued to talk about her parents and Rarity chimed in with a comforting word every now and again but her mind was really on how close they were to their destination. As they neared the spot, Rarity picked up a rock with her magic to use. Rocks were always messier than Rarity liked, but she hadn't had time to prepare anything else so it would just have to do. Applejack didn't even notice that she was being led to her death; she just stared at the ground and kept talking. Rarity brought the rock closer, moving it in position for the kill. At that moment, something Applejack said actually made it into Rarity's ears. "I just don't know how my baby sister is goin' to grow up without parents." Rarity immediately lost focus and dropped the rock.

"So sorry, did you say 'baby sister?'" asked Rarity. Applejack nodded.

"Yeah, her name's Apple Bloom. She was only born a couple of months ago." Rarity immediately went into think mode. How in Equestria could she, a new sister herself, actually leave a young filly without a sister of her own to look up to? The idea was suddenly horrifying to her. No, Apple Bloom deserved to have a sister to grow up with even if she couldn't have parents. Rarity immediately lost all will to kill Applejack.

"Oh my goodness, I think we may have taken a wrong turn somewhere. How do I get to your house again?" Her question brought Applejack out of her misery for a second as she confusedly looked around.

"Whoa, how did we get all the way over here? I'll lead ya in the right direction, I guess we just lost our way for a bit there," she said.

It had been a few weeks since Sweetie Belle's birth. Rarity had walked Applejack home and talking to Rarity seemed to do Applejack a lot of good. Applejack had no idea how close she had come to death herself that night. Sweetie Belle and her mother had been discharged from the hospital a few days after that and both of them were doing absolutely fine.

On this particular day, both of Rarity's parents were gone for the day, Rarity's father had work and Rarity's mother had matters to attend to with work as well regarding maternity leave and things of that nature. As such, it was just Rarity and Sweetie Belle in the house today. Rarity was in Sweetie Belle's room, laying her down for her nap. To Rarity's delight, Sweetie Belle was a very happy little filly, if a bit stubborn sometimes but even in her stubborn moments, Rarity loved her all the same.

As she watched Sweetie Belle's tiny form breathe in and out, she heard a knock on the door. Rarity froze and looked down at Sweetie Belle, expecting the noise to have woken her up. However, to her relief, Sweetie Belle slept through the intruding noise.

Rarity trotted down the stairs and opened the door to find a pony that she had never met before. He was dressed in a cheap suit and had a suitcase slung on his back, he was clearly selling something despite the 'no solicitors' sign on the door of the house. Why in Equestria did nopony notice them? The solicitor smiled at Rarity when she opened the door. "Well good afternoon miss, may I have just a moment of your time? I'm with the Phillydelphia Valley Corporation and we're looking for a few ponies here in Ponyville to do a survey for our company regarding business prices and customer satisfaction. Would you mind it if I asked you a few questions?"

"Oh, no thank you I am not interested," said Rarity, trying to close the door.

"It would just take few moments miss."

"I said..."

"Only a few moments and you will receive a 20 bit gift card for our business," pushed the solicitor. Rarity inwardly gritted her teeth but she was struck by an urge she had not had in a long time. She adopted a sweeter attitude.

"Well, I suppose it's okay, if it really will just take a moment. Would you like to come in? I have some tea on the stove." The solicitor smiled.

"Why that sounds very lovely miss...?"

"Oh, Annie, my name is Annie."

"Well, Annie, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance," he said as Rarity led him into the house.

"Likewise, now if you'll excuse me, I must go check on the tea."

"Take your time." Rarity nodded and went into the kitchen. She opened up a drawer and pulled out a large kitchen knife. Rarity kept them sharp for occasions like this. Since ponies couldn't hold knives in a regular way, they had been modified so that they stuck to the hooves of the pony holding them for as long as they were using it. Rarity trotted out of the room and back to where the intruder was. She saw him looking at photos on the mantelpiece. When he heard Rarity come in, he turned around with a smile and started talking. "Is that your new sister in the picture on the far right? I must say that she is..." at that exact moment Rarity raised the knife and stuck it directly in the solicitor's neck. He dropped to the floor immediately and clutched at the large gash in his throat. Rarity pulled out the knife and began stabbing him repeatedly. She felt the knife sink in deeper with each stab. She felt tendons being severed, muscle being tenderized, metal scraping against bone, and the unmistakable feeling of blood flowing around her. It was an experience she had not had in months. She hadn't killed since she found out that Sweetie Belle was on the way.

"When. I. Say. That. I. Am. NOT INTERESTED. I. Mean. GO AWAY!" she said, each word incurring another stab wound. As she pulled the knife out after the last word, she heard a faint noise upstairs that was beginning to grow louder. Rarity dropped the knife and realized that the noise was a crying Sweetie Belle! "Oh my goodness, Sweetie Belle!" She started to run up the stairs when she screeched to a halt and turned back to the solicitor. He was long gone and was leaving quite the bloody mess. Rarity rationalized that he wasn't going anywhere and that her sister needed her attention right now.

She ran up the stairs and into Sweetie Belle's room. She picked up her crying sister and hugged her tight, humming a lullaby in order to try to calm her down. "Hush now, quiet now, it's time to lay your sleepy head. Hush now, quiet now it's time to go to bed." As she sang, Sweetie Belle calmed down and stopped crying. Rarity sighed in relief that her sister had calmed down until she looked down at herself. Both she and Sweetie Belle were covered in blood. Rarity held back a shriek of terror. It took her a moment to realize that it was the blood of the solicitor and not Sweetie Belle. For a brief terrifying moment, Rarity had imagined that she had...no, she didn't want to even think about that.

She pulled Sweetie Belle into a tight hug and began sobbing. "Oh Sweetie Belle, I promise I will never, ever hurt you. Do you hear me? Big sister will never, ever hurt you!"


	3. Carousel Boutique

Three years later

It had taken far longer than she had wanted it to, but Rarity now held the deed and the key to the worn down building that she had her eye on ever since she was a young teenager. It was true that the place was certainly filthy but Rarity enjoyed cleansing filth. She had ever since her first murders at the age of eight. But that was 8 years ago and a lot had changed in that time. For one thing, she had now moved out of her parent's home. This building would not only be her business, but it would also be her home. It had the coziest room on the top level that would be perfect for her room and there was a fabulous room right next to that which would make an excellent workroom.

She took the key to her new home out of her saddlebag and unlocked the rusty door which promptly swung shut again once she was inside. The atmosphere inside her house was dank and musty and it took Rarity a few moments to get used to the smell. She looked around for a few moments for a light switch and when she found one, she flipped it on. The light overhead flickered for a few moments before a crackle of electricity ran through it and blew out the bulb. Rarity ground her teeth together. It was just one more thing to pay to get fixed around here. Money was no issue of course as her ability to find gems had long since set her up for life, but she still disliked having to pay for things to get organized. She pulled a candle out of her saddlebag, the blown out bulb was something that she had anticipated and lit it to get some light in the room. It wasn't much and the sunlight shining through the door offered more light than the candle did, but it was just enough to see.

Rarity trotted outside where a group of movers was lounging around, waiting for Rarity to give them the go-ahead to begin moving her things inside. She nodded at the foreman who motioned clapped his hooves together to signal to his men that they had better get to work now. The men groaned but they shuffled to their feet and started moving Rarity's stuff into her house.

Rarity went ahead of them and used her candle to locate curtains for her to open. She found some and opened them up, letting sunlight flow through the window. The dust that had been accumulating on the curtains for however many of years flew into the air and Rarity fought the urge to sneeze. It was a lost cause. She saw that the curtains of the building were a garish mustard yellow color and Rarity shrank back, horrified that she had touched something so unfashionable. She used her magic to tear them down immediately and put them in a pile in a corner of the room. They would have to be replaced for sure.

The day was a busy one for Rarity and the movers. Hour after hour was spent cleaning the rooms, carrying items into the room and Rarity dictating were she wanted everything neatly put. Rarity thought that all of these men were brutish and idiotic. Sometimes it seemed as if they were ignoring her orders. They'd put a dresser in the workroom instead of in her room or a display case in her room instead of the main hall. It was little things like that which made Rarity grow steadily more irritated with the workers as the day moved on. What really irked Rarity was the fact that every now and again, she received the occasional lewd look from one of the workers. The foreman in particular shot a glance her way whenever he got the chance. Rarity scoffed at this. She supposed she should be flattered that they were admiring her beauty but it really was quite bothersome for her.

After 8 hours of work, she was officially moved into her home. Her biggest worry was that one of the workers would snoop around and find her box, but none of them did and her box was secure in a fold of fabric where it was supposed to be. Rarity felt a sense of freedom that she had never felt before, even when she was committing her murders. She was free! She was completely on her own now and out from under the rule of her parents. Not only that, but she was starting her own business in Ponyville. She still cared deeply for her family though, particularly a fast growing Sweetie Belle, who had just celebrated her third birthday this past month. She had been sad to see Rarity move out, but Rarity hadn't moved too far away and the two could see each other every day.

The foreman came up to Rarity once most of his men had left. "So, were you satisfied with our work here today?" Rarity gave a thoughtful look as she mulled over the performance of the workers.

"Well, everything is where it should be for the most part and my home certainly does look much nicer than it did before so yes, I think you did an adequate job today." The foreman grimaced at the word 'adequate' but seemed to shrug it off after a few moments.

"Alright then lady, if you'll just pay us we'll be out of your hair."

"Oh yes, of course. How much was it again? 500 bits I believe was the agreed upon price." Rarity opened a chest and pulled out a bag of coins containing the proper amount and handed it to the foreman. "Here you are good sir." The foreman looked silently at the 500 bit bag.

"Nice try lady, you owe us 1000," he said.

"I beg your pardon?" said Rarity indignantly. "I hired you because I heard you were hard workers and not too expensive. I was told that your rate was 500 bits for a job like this!"

"Well, your house was a special case lady; we didn't agree that we'd have to clean it as well." Rarity shot him an angry glare.

"I wouldn't pay 1000 bits for your hide, much less for the mediocre job you did today!"

"Well, I can involve a lawyer in this whenever I want lady! Pay up or we'll sue!" said the foreman angrily. Rarity maintained the glare she had given.

"Well then, if you are willing to involve a lawyer in this extortion, then I suppose I had better pay up shouldn't I?" The foreman gave a triumphant grin.

"That's the idea lady, you wouldn't want us to have to give your store here bad press before it even opened."

"Indeed not," said Rarity stiffly. "However, I don't have an extra 500 on hand at the moment so if you would be so kind as to wait until I have gathered that amount I would appreciate that." The foreman nodded in agreement.

"Just drop it by my office by tomorrow morning or I will get a lawyer involved." As he exited the house, Rarity smiled to herself. It was so wonderful when ponies deserved what was coming to them.

Rarity was hiding in the bushes next to the office of the moving company, waiting like a predator for its prey. She highly disliked her current surroundings but it would all be worth it when he came out, the foreman who had tried to extort her earlier that day.

The decision to kill was never a difficult one for Rarity. If she felt that the victim deserved it then that was it, his or her fife ended within a few days. It had been that way ever since she was a filly. She mulled over the events after the foreman had left. She had gone up to her room and retrieved her special box. The rock was placed aside in favor of examining the wood. She knew that she was running out of space and that she would soon need another counter if she was to keep marking her kills. At the moment, she was examining her kill counter to see if she needed to start a new counter now, or if there was room to mark this one some more. She turned it over and to her delight; there were a few blank spots on the back. Another counter would be required soon. Rarity ran her hoof over the newest scratch mark, another solicitor like the one she had killed that fateful day with Sweetie Belle three years ago. That one was kill 27, this one was kill 56. Rarity almost always killed outsiders these days. No one in Ponyville would notice their disappearance and if she killed fast enough, no one could mark Ponyville as their last location either. She grinned in anticipation of kill #57.

Rarity snapped out of her memories just in time to see the nasty foreman leave his office. With a yawn, he locked up the office building and left for home. Rarity eased out of the bushes when he was far enough away. She always made sure to keep her distance so as to not alert her prey, but stalking ponies in the dead of night was just another skill that had become second nature to her.

As Rarity continued to follow him, she saw that the number of houses in the area had decreased in number. Rarity recognized this part of town as the one she had grown up in, so many years ago. Surely he wasn't...no, there was no way that this brute now lived in her old house. Rarity had never considered the thought of murdering in her old house. It was such a sanctuary to her in her early years and the thought that she could kill there was a fascinating idea.

Sure enough, Rarity saw the foreman stop at her old front door and walk inside. Rarity giggled in anticipation, a kill in her own home! Oh, she liked this, she liked it very much. It would almost be like coming full circle for her. She checked her saddlebag once more to make sure that she had everything that she needed for the kill. Content that she was ready, she walked up to the door and knocked. She heard a slight commotion inside the house, a mumble of irritation and the sounds of someone coming to the door. Within a few seconds, the door opened revealing a very worn out looking foreman. When he saw Rarity, he raised an eyebrow. "Uh, can I help you miss?"

"I believe you can, you see, I was about to deliver the money to your office when I ran into a lawyer friend of my own who said that I certainly had a case against your extortion. In fact, I believe that I can sue you enough to gain control of your entire operation. Celestia knows that I am sure I can run it better than you can." The foreman looked exceptionally uncomfortable at this news.

"Uh, look miss, I'm sure we're both reasonable ponies, maybe we can cut a deal here?"

"Oh, I'm certain that we can. Nopony wants a mess on their hands do they? Do you mind if I came in so we could discuss the matter more comfortably?" said Rarity. The foreman groaned in frustration but opened his door more and let her in.

Rarity walked inside the house and looked around. The layout obviously had not changed, but the fact that somepony so mean lived here was a taint on the home of her youth and she almost sensed that in the air. Rarity hoped that once the foreman 'moved out' that somepony nice would move in to her home. The foreman led Rarity into the living room and directed her to a chair. Rarity shook her head with a smile. "Oh no thank you, I prefer to stand," she said. He shrugged and sat down on a chair himself. Before he could begin his discussion, a Pegasus mare came into the room looking confusedly at Rarity. She turned towards the foreman. "Honey, who is this?" she asked. Rarity surmised that she was his wife.

"Oh yes, my name is Annette and I am here to make sure neither I nor your husband has any reason to go to court against each other. You see, your husband here tried to extort me for double what I owed him after I used his services so I am merely here to straighten the matter out." The foreman stared at Rarity with a horrified look on his face. His wife looked at him almost a little angrily.

"Is that true?" she asked.

"Oh I'm afraid that it is quite true madam but I'm not actually here to discuss money or lawyers." The foreman looked at her questioningly.

"Uh, then why are you here?" he asked. Rarity opened her saddlebag and pulled out a butcher knife.

'I'm here to kill you," said Rarity. The foreman and his wife were frozen in shock, trying to register what Rarity had just said. The moment of shock was all she needed and with a snarl of rage, she lunged towards the foreman and sunk the knife deep into his shoulder. He screamed in pain as Rarity threw her body weight into the knife and it sank deeper into his shoulder. Rarity felt the knife scrape bone and she pulled it out. The foreman fell to the ground writing in pain and his wife began screaming in terror. Rarity wheeled around and pointed the knife at her. "I would stay very quiet if I were you. Your life and the life of your husband depend on you entirely so please, SHUT UP!" The words silenced her and she began quietly sobbing. She moved over to her husband and knelt down beside him, trying her best to ease his pain. She could only place his head on her lap and look up at Rarity.

"How could you!?" she said, tears of anger flowing from her eyes now. "Is a little money worth this!?" Rarity merely laughed at her words.

'Why, of course dear," The wife stared at Rarity in shock. "I mean, one must be firm in matters like this. Extortion is wrong isn't it sir?" The foreman weakly nodded.

"We, we won't tell the cops on you Annette, just let us go," he said weakly. Rarity rolled her eyes.

"Oh, don't take me for a foal. You know what I look like, you know where I live, and I just stabbed you in the shoulder and made no secret of my desire to kill you. Why, the second I leave it would be your duty to call the authorities on me and they would catch me very quickly. So really, don't insult my intelligence by saying you won't because you certainly will," said Rarity.

There was a brief moment of silence while Rarity pondered what to do next. The position the two were in made attacking outright difficult as the wife would certainly begin fighting to save her husband. Attacking the wife first would possibly be risky too as she would know when Rarity was going to attack by her body language and possibly fight back. She suddenly remembered how she had accomplished her 18th and 19th kills and decided that the situation called for that same strategy.

"I'll tell you what sir, I will let you go if you give me something," said Rarity. The foreman's eyes widened with hope.

"Anything, just name it!" he said.

"Your wife, or more accurately, her life. If you let me kill her right here and now, I will let you go." The wife looked down at her husband in shock, but she wasn't as shocked by that as the answer that followed.

"Yes! It's a deal, just take her and let me go!" said the foreman excitedly. His wife immediately stood up and backed away. A look of pure horror was on her face as she stared at the man that she thought would die for her. Rarity merely smiled. It could not have gone any better.

"Well then, I suppose we know what to do now then don't we?" she said. With another snarl of rage, she jumped up on top of the foreman and began repeatedly stabbing him in the head. Her first stab went directly into his forehead, right through his skull and into his brain. She sensed that this stab was instantly fatal for the foreman but she continued to hack away at his face. Her second stab went into his lifeless eye, slicing his eye in half and causing a white liquid to ooze from the socket. She continued to hack away until his face was a bloody, unrecognizable mess.

Rarity regained her composure after a few seconds and looked up to see the wife staring blankly at the bloody mess before her. Rarity stood up and walked over to her. "I'm so sorry you had to see that darling. Not me killing him obviously, but I'm sorry you had to see his betrayal like that. Things of that nature are immensely distasteful to me," said Rarity. Before the wife could respond, Rarity rammed the knife directly into her throat. The wife made a few gurgling noises as the blood drained away from her body but after a few seconds she was still.

Rarity pulled the knife out of her latest victim's throat and began cleaning herself up. She mused that maybe she would have to find another way of killing that didn't leave quite as big of a mess as stabbing. Still, there was something oddly satisfying about the feeling of a knife penetrating flesh.

Rarity trotted over to where she remembered the bathroom to be. She cleaned the bloody knife up and used a few towels hung on a rack to clean herself off as well. She then picked up the bloody rags and went to go move them over to where the bodies were but decided that as long as she was here, maybe she could stop by her old room briefly to see just how much it had changed, for old time's sake. She placed the towels in a pile on the floor and trotted towards her old room.

The door was closed and oddly enough, painted in bright rainbow colors. It seemed rather unlike this couple to do something like that as the rest of the house was painted in dull greys and reds. No matter, Rarity opened the door and what was inside the room almost caused Rarity to give a small yelp of shock. On a tiny bed on the far end of the room was a sleeping Pegasus filly. Rarity quietly entered the room and tip-hooved closer to examine her. She was just about Sweetie Belle's age and had a light orange body and unkempt lighter purple hair. Tiny wings were folded at her side and Rarity saw that they seemed to be a bit small for a filly her age. She looked around the room and saw a picture frame on the wall on the left side of the bed. Rarity took a closer look and saw the foreman, his wife, and the filly in the picture, smiling happily at the camera. A caption underneath the photo read; "Mom, Dad, and our darling daughter Scootaloo at the Fillydelphia Fair." So, her name was Scootaloo huh?

Rarity turned back to the sleeping filly and decided that she had better do the job completely. Rarity believed that growing up without parents would be very hard for Scootaloo so she might as well save the tiny filly the trouble. Rarity went back to the bathroom and collected her knife from where she had left it in the sink. When she returned, the filly was still sleeping peacefully, unaware that her parents lay butchered in the sitting room not 50 feet from where she now slept. Rarity stood over the filly and raised her knife over her head.

Rarity walked through town hurriedly, lest somepony see her. Sleeping peacefully in her saddlebag was the sleeping filly from the house she had just been to. Rarity had lost the nerve to kill the little Scootaloo a few seconds after she raised the knife. She just hadn't been able to kill her like that. She had imagined what the three year old filly would look like with a large gash in her throat and Rarity immediately flashed back to that horrid day when she had held a blood-soaked Sweetie Belle in her arms. She realized at that moment that there was no way that she could kill this little filly. So, Rarity wrapped her in a blanket and put her in her saddlebag. She had spent a few hours cleaning up the house so that it would be spotless to even the most thorough investigation. Then she had wrapped up the corpses in a large tarp which she carried into the Everfree forest for the predators to dispose of. Rarity loved using the forest as her dumping grounds because nopony had the nerve to go in there and thus they would generally not investigate making it the perfect spot to dump bodies.

Rarity was actually surprised that Scootaloo had not woken up yet as she was certain that the bumpy journey towards their destination would have woken her up. Although, the screams of her mother as Rarity stabbed her father should have done that as well but little Scootaloo remained fast asleep. After an hour of walking, Rarity reached her destination, the Ponyville orphanage. It was located outside of the town itself but it was still considered a part of Ponyville. It was a perfect place to deposit the tiny filly as Rarity didn't know anypony in Ponyville who would appreciate waking up in the morning to see a sleeping Pegasus filly on their doorstep. Rarity used her magic to lift Scootaloo out of her bag and she placed her on the doorstep of the orphanage. She also placed a note that she had written using a sample of the mother's hoofwriting on Scootaloo's blanket. It merely said: 'Please take good care of our daughter Scootaloo as we cannot.' Rarity knocked loudly three times on the door and bolted away to hide. She hid behind some bushes and peeked through a gap in time to see a kindly old mare open the door. She was shocked to see the tiny Pegasus filly on the doorstep and she immediately picked her up and brought her inside. Rarity trotted back to her home, content that her job was done.


	4. The Elements of Harmony Part 1

Five years later

Rarity awoke to the sound of her doorbell chiming downstairs. As music went, her doorbell could have been a worse way to wake up but it was pleasant for Rarity to wake up like that on most days. Still, her shop wasn't open for another hour so she expected that it was her parents or Sweetie Belle coming to visit her. She shuffled out of bed, stopping for a moment to style her mane and trotted down the stairs. She was annoyed to hear the doorbell ring again and she gave an irritated shout at the door "I'm coming; I'm coming, hold your horseshoes!" She opened the door and to her surprise, she saw the mayor of Ponyville standing in front of her. "Oh! Well, good afternoon Madam Mayor. What can I do for you?"

"Hello there Rarity! I hope that I didn't wake you. I'll be direct, our fair princess has chosen Ponyville as the location of this year's Summer Sun Celebration!" said The Mayor. Rarity's eyes widened in joy and a large smile spread across her face.

"Here! The Summer Sun celebration is going to be...HERE!?"

"Indeed it is," said The Mayor, smiling at Rarity's joy. "As such, everypony here needs to do their part in making sure out town looks the best that it can be for the celebration. I would like you to be the one who decorates town hall." If anypony watching thought that Rarity's eyes couldn't get any wider or that her smile couldn't get any bigger, they would be wrong. Rarity's levels of joy tripled and she grabbed The Mayor in a bear hug and began jumping up and down in happiness.

"Oh thankyouthankyouthankyouthan kyouthankyou!" said Rarity. "You won't regret this, I promise! I'll make Town Hall look more beautiful than it has ever been in its entire existence!" The Mayor gave a weak chuckle at this display and eased her way out of the embrace.

"Oh, yes you're quite welcome Rarity. I know you'll do fine. You have a blank check for whatever you need. Just bill it to my office. I know you'll do just fine," said The Mayor.

"I'll do better than fine Madam Mayor, I'll do a spectacular job, and I'll be the best decorator Town Hall has ever had!" Rarity continued to rant to herself about how amazing of a decorator she would be. She didn't even notice that The Mayor had slipped away from the conversation.

Rarity surveyed her work on Town Hall with glee. She had decided early on that since this was the Summer Sun Celebration, she should make the theme of the decor something to do with the morning sky. Sher original designs had called for a lot of yellow, representing the sun but when she had put the idea into practice, she found that the color was rather overpowering and off-putting to the pony eye. She immediately decided to use sky blue from that point as it was much more aesthetically pleasing.

She surveyed her work with pride at how well she had done. The room was filled with sky blue streamers with a beautiful bouquet of flowers at every connecting point. It was here that she found out that she could use the color other than sky blue and she utilized a beautiful bouquet of white flowers at most of the connecting points. Around the edges of the room and on the ceiling were banners emblazoned with symbols representing different aspects of nature as well as others representing different moments in Equestrian history.

As she looked, she realized that a few pillars did not have ribbons on them. Rarity walked over to a box of ribbons that were currently resting on the balcony above her and began testing out individual colors to see which one she liked. She was so busy testing out different ribbons, that she hardly noticed when the door to the room opened. She was vaguely aware of two voices that she had never heard before talking about her work and something about a library, but she was too busy to care about that right now. As she tested different ribbons, she began giving them verbal denials. "No, no, no, oh, definitely no." She was vaguely worried that she would run out of colors before she actually landed on one she liked. She heard the first voice behind her address her.

"Good afternoon," she heard a female voice say. Rarity inwardly growled in frustration as this intruder might make her lose her train of thought on the matter. She hid her irritation and barely glanced at the new pony as she said in a false happy voice.

"Just a moment! I'm in 'the zone' as 'twere." Rarity continued checking ribbons until she held up a sparkling red ribbon. "Ah yes!" she said as she tied it into a neat not around the pillar. "Sparkle always does the trick does it not? Why Rarity you are a talent." She remembered her audience and turned back towards the pony. "Now, how can I help you-" Rarity gave a gasp of horror as she got a good look at the mane of the pony in front of her. She was vaguely aware that this new pony was standing next to a baby dragon but that hardly mattered to her right now. The monstrosity that was this new pony's mane was commanding her attention. It was so messy and curly and...horrid was the only word that came to Rarity's mind that adequately described the mess. it must be dealt with immediately. "Oh my stars, darling! Whatever happened to your coiffure?" The new pony looked up at her ghastly mane.

"Oh, you mean my mane? Well, it's a long story," said the new pony. She clearly did not understand just how horrible she looked. "I'm just here to check up on the decorations and then I'll be out of your hair."

"Out of my hair? What about your hair?" said Rarity. This had to be fixed. If this pony wasn't open to Rarity's generous help, then Rarity supposed she had enough time to kill her and get rid of the body. Well, except that she had a dragon companion. Rarity had never killed a dragon before but she suspected that even a baby one would be immensely hard to kill. Maybe if she could slip him some hemlock cakes or something it would do the job. She knew that a knife for the dragon was certainly out of the question. However, despite the fact that this new pony was resistant to Rarity pushing her towards Carousel Boutique, she wasn't putting up any serious effort. At any rate, once she figured out that she couldn't talk Rarity out of this, she followed her willingly.

Within a few minutes they arrived at Carousel Boutique. The pony walked over to a mirror and used her magic to change it back to what appeared to be her usual style. it was a plain style, straightened hair with the end curving around her neck. Rarity decided that she could toy with her hair but if nothing else worked, then that would.

She eagerly grabbed the hoof of the new pony and began having her try on some dresses that she had recently made in the shop. This was a rare opportunity for her of late, having someone model dresses that she had been tinkering with. As each one was put on, Rarity realized that each one needed tinkering in some way or another. At the very least, none of them looked good on this pony. She briefly stopped her mini fashion show to ask the mane of the pony.

"I'm Twilight Sparkle and this is my assistant Spike," she said pointing to the dragon. Rarity turned to greet the dragon but saw that he was looking at her with a dreamy look in his eyes. Clearly he had already formed a crush on her. She would ignore that for now and hopefully it wouldn't come up again.

As Rarity continued to have Twilight try on clothes, she remembered a corset that she had been saving for a special occasion and she decided that Twilight would look absolutely marvelous in it. After she nixed the latest design, a souped up aerobics instructor, Rarity grabbed the corset and slipped it over Twilight's head. It looked absolutely marvelous on her. Rarity realized that she needed to tighten the straps of the outfit but decided that she had done enough talking for the moment. "Now go on my dear, you were telling me where you're from." She grabbed the straps in the back with her teeth and put her hind hooves on Twilight's back for maximum strength and began pulling as hard as she could. Twilight could only get out one word at a time thanks to the corset constricting her breath.

"I've...been...sent...from...Canterlot...to..." Wait, Canterlot? Did this pony just say she was from CANTERLOT!?"

"Huh?" said Rarity as she let the straps go, sending both ponies flying in opposite directions. "Canterlot!? Oh I am so envious, the glamor, the sophistication! I have always dreamed of living there! I can't wait to hear all about it!" She leaned in next to the bemused pony. This was clearly the type of pony that she should get to know. Who knows? Maybe Twilight could get her business contacts in Canterlot! New town, new customers, new outfits, new victims, it was a dream situation for Rarity. "We are going to be the best of friends you and I!"

Rarity's eyes trailed down to the large gemstone at the front of the corset. Oh dear, it seemed this outfit did have a flaw after all. "Emeralds? What was thinking? Let me get you some rubies!" she said and trotted off to get the necessary stones.

When she returned while levitating a large ruby, she saw that Twilight was nowhere to be found. The corset that she had been wearing was lying on the back of a chair. Rarity gritted her teeth and examined the garment. she found a small hole in one of the sides and one of the gems had popped out in Twilight's hurry to leave. Rarity's face darkened with anger. "Twilight, when I see you next I am going to..."

"Welcome her to Ponyville at her welcome party!" said a high-pitched, excited vice behind her. Rarity jumped up into the air with a startled yelp. When she landed, she turned around to see a smiling pink pony behind her.

"Oh, Pinkie Pie, you startled me," said Rarity, trying to catch her breath.

"Well that's silly, I've been in here for five minutes. The new pony in town seemed uncomfortable when you were pulling on her clothes like that," said Pinkie.

"Yes, well, that's just part of the way that the outfit works, darling. Now, what were you saying about a welcome party?" asked Rarity.

"Well, I ran across the new pony today in the town square and I realized that I didn't know her name and if I didn't know her that means that she's not from around here and if she's not from around here then she must not have any friends and how sad is it to not have any friends am I right? So I decided that the best thing to do was to invite everypony in Ponyville for a great big party to welcome Twilight to Ponyville and I found out from The Mayor that Twilight was staying in the library and I've been on the move the whole day organizing this party for her and I've been inviting everypony in Ponyville to this party and since the Summer Sun Celebration is today nopony has anything really to do so they all said they'd be delighted to come to the party!" Rarity couldn't believe that anypony could talk for that long without taking a breath but she knew that Pinkie Pie wasn't your typical pony.

"I see, Pinkie Pie. Oh and by the way, her name is Twilight Sparkle and her dragon companion is named Spike I believe." Immediately, Pinkie started in on another long-winded rant about how awesome it was to have Twilight in Ponyville and how amazingly fun the party was going to be. Rarity managed to tune it out while nodding occasionally to whatever Pinkie was saying but she tuned back in just in time to her Pinkie say "And then I heard you say, 'when I see you next I am going to' and I said 'welcome her to Ponyville at her welcome party!'" Rarity mused that Pinkie's idea of the second half of her sentence was quite off. Rarity was thinking more along the lines of strapping her down and removing her internal organs while her poisoned dragon lay dead at her feet, not welcoming her to Ponyville. She wouldn't be in Ponyville for very long anyways. Mishandling her clothing was always a fatal offense to Rarity. It was good to know that Twilight was staying at the library though.

Rarity promised Pinkie Pie that she would be at Twilight's party and the party loving pink pony bounced out of Rarity's home. Rarity rolled her eyes at the retreating figure. She liked Pinkie Pie. As hard as it was to be around her sometimes, she took a lot of energy to be around, she genuinely liked her. It was hard not to like somepony who made it her goal in life to make you as happy as possible. Rarity was often curious about whether or not Pinkie would get Rarity new victims if Rarity told Pinkie it would make her smile. She didn't want to press her luck on that though.

Rarity went into a storage room next to the main entrance to her boutique. Inside was nothing more than a small, worn down piano. Something unassuming to the casual looker, not that anypony came in here anyway. Rarity played the tune to the lullaby that she used to sing to Sweetie Belle when she was younger and a secret door opened up to her left revealing some stairs. Rarity had found this basement when she had moved in and with a few adjustments, it became her secret workroom. But it had nothing to do with fashion though. No, this room was for her kills.

Rarity reached the bottom of the stairs and flicked on a light switch to her left. An outside pony would be absolutely horrified at the sight before them: the walls and floors were caked in blood and entrails, some of it all too fresh. Every now and again, a stray bone could be found on the floor and maybe a piece of flesh as well. Rarity sighed as she put on her special horseshoes and walked over to her workbench. "You know Rarity; you really should clean this place up now and again. It is starting to smell a bit, even with the candles you put down here."

"Oh I know Rarity; we've had this conversation before. This is my personal space to shed the clean, sophisticated part of me. I can just let it all go here, you know that." Rarity sat at her workbench and pressed a button on the bottom. The top of the workbench opened up to reveal Rarity's toys. Knives, her rock, anesthesia needles, a vegetable peeler, a small hammer, oh she had everything she used for her murders in here. She picked up a large knife that she used to skin her victims alive. She had only done it a few times before and their pelts now hung on the wall to her left. Rarity had originally done it to keep trophies of her victims but had stopped doing it with any consistency as she didn't have that kind of space on her wall. The wall on her right side was dedicated to scalped manes. She had about half a dozen of them right now in contrast to the four pony hides that decorated the other wall. She had decided after her first disastrous attempt at flaying a corpse that she should only do it for hides and manes that she found particularly beautiful.

As she toyed with the knife, she considered for a moment whether or not Twilight's mane or hide deserved to be on her wall. She had already decided that Spike's scales would play some part in the decoration of her room. After all, how often does one get a chance to kill a dragon? Even the successful murder of a baby dragon was something to be proud of.

Rarity thought back to the moments, not half an hour ago when she was toying with Twilight's mane. It was rather silky and smooth. It was obvious that Twilight took good care of her hair. Rarity nodded and placed the skinning knife on a medical tray next to the table. Since Twilight was from Canterlot, she deserved a spot on Rarity's wall right? Plus, Rarity had certainly admired the beauty of her cutie mark, how unique and intricate it was. She made a mental note to remember the design for possible future outfits once the memory of Twilight had faded from the town. Maybe she could even try to find a way to make fake dragon scales too! The possibilities for that were endless.

Rarity scanned her collection of items,trying to find out what else she wanted to use when she killed Twilight. Spike would have to be poisoned unfortunately, she just couldn't risk it. However, she could have all of the fun she wanted with Twilight. She grabbed the hammer as well as a tourne knife and a paring knife. It should be enough for what she wanted to accomplish and she placed them on the tray as well. As she went to close the desk, she spotted her boning knife. She shrugged and figured 'why not?' and she placed it on the tray too.

Rarity went up the stairs happily, depositing her horseshoes at the bottom of the stairs and checked the clock. It read 6:33, which meant that Twilight's welcoming party would be starting soon. She looked around the room for a brief moment before she shrugged and walked out the door.

As she walked towards the library, she spotted Twilight talking to Fluttershy, a shy Pegasus pony that Rarity had a soft spot for. She seemed to be immensely uncomfortable around Twilight. At least Fluttershy wouldn't miss her.

As Rarity continued walking, she considered briefly how she would get Twilight to her boutique in the morning. Obviously she couldn't incapacitate them at the library. Somepony would see her moving an unconscious pony and a dead dragon into her home. She decided that the best course of action would be to ask Twilight to come to her house so she could give her a welcoming gift. She would Pinkie Promise that Twilight would love it and that she had better come over to the boutique as soon as possible and to bring Spike as well. If his looks at her were any indication, Spike would come if she asked anyway. She would feed them cakes, one to knock out Twilight and one to kill Spike and then she could do what she liked with Twilight once she woke up. Twilight had yet to understand the importance of Pinkie Promises...although; if everything went according to plan then she would never understand them. It was considered the highest offense to Pinkie Pie to break a Pinkie Promise. Rarity knew that Pinkie Pie would never actually hurt anypony who broke one, no matter how mad she was (and seeing Pinkie mad actually scared Rarity). So, Rarity had taken it upon herself to do the job for her, as evidenced by the light green pelt on her wall.

Rarity knocked on the door of the library and was met by an excited Pinkie Pie. "Ooh good, you're here! We're just waiting for Fluttershy now. Everypony else is here!"

"How delightful!" said Rarity, walking into the library. "But Pinkie, why is it so dark in here?"

"Well we've got to make it dark so we can surprise her when we turn the lights on silly!" said Pinkie.

"Have the pony be shrouded in darkness then have them be surprised by their surroundings when you turn the light on...Pinkie that's genius! I have to remember that one," said Rarity.

The party had been a decent success, Twilight had unfortunately drunk a fair amount of hot sauce and for whatever reason, and she used that as an excuse to stay up in her room the entire night. Oh well, the party was still fun without her. Rarity had found out that it was indeed fun when you turned on the light to surprise a confused pony. She would certainly have to begin Twilight's session in that manner as the mare's reaction was even better than she had imagined.

After the party had ended, all of the ponies in the library went directly to Town Hall to meet the princess and watch her raise the sun. Rarity felt a great rush of pride as the ponies of the town admired her work. Rarity began to get close to Twilight when The Mayor approached her. "Rarity, would you like the honor of pulling back the curtains to introduce Princess Celestia on my mark?" Rarity smiled happily again, causing The Mayor to take a few steps back, lest she be pulled into another giant hug. Thankfully, this time Rarity merely nodded and rushed towards the balcony.

As she got into position, she scanned the crowd for Twilight. She found her in the middle of the room with Spike on her back, talking to Pinkie Pie...or at least, Pinkie Pie was ranting to Twilight about something or other. The crowd fell silent as The Mayor began talking about the ceremony. Rarity decided that she had better focus on what The Mayor was saying as opposed to Twilight and it was a good thing too as she was just beginning to introduce Celestia.

"And now, it is my great honor to introduce to you the ruler of our land. The very pony who gives us the sun and moon each and every day, the good, the wise, the bringer of harmony throughout Equestria: Princess Celestia!" At the last two words, Rarity pulled the cord, opening the curtain behind her. Rarity heard a gasp emerge from the crowd and she looked overt where she thought Celestia would be. She let out a small gasp of her own when she saw the balcony was empty. She decided to investigate. She looked through the back rooms of the Town Hall and any other rooms that she came across during her quick search. Princess Celestia definitely wasn't in Town Hall.

Rarity trotted back up to the balcony and addressed the crowd. "She's gone!" she said. The crowd gasped again. Rarity was wondering what this all meant but stopped for a moment when she heard Pinkie Pie yelp in shock. She turned around to see not Princess Celestia, but a pony who seemed to be her very opposite. If Celestia was the sun incarnate, this pony was the night made flesh.

"Ah, my beloved subjects. It has been so long since I have seen your precious little sun-loving faces!" said the evil looking Alicorn, looking around the room. Rarity was beginning to wonder what to do now. She half considered attacking but she didn't know if she had the ability to kill her before she stopped Rarity. Rarity didn't even have a knife on her right now. Of course, she could just crush her throat with a punch. It was something that she had done on occasion. This new mare flew over to Fluttershy and said something to her that Rarity couldn't quite make out. Right after she turned her attention from Fluttershy, she appeared next to Rarity, grabbing her face with her other-worldly mane. "Did you not see the signs?" she said evilly.

'Do it now Rarity' she thought to herself. 'All it's going to take is one quick punch to the throat and she's dead in minutes and this whole thing can be over.' However, before she actually worked up the nerve, the mare gave her a quick slap with her mane and moved on. Rarity growled at her missed chance. The mare turned her attention to Twilight now who was talking with her. Twilight was doing her best to keep a brave face through this ordeal but she seemed to be losing her nerve.

"You're the Mare in the Moon; Nightmare Moon!" said Twilight. As Nightmare Moon exchanged a few more words with Twilight, Rarity desperately wished that she had a knife on her, just something simple that she could use to sever Nightmare Moon's spine at the neck, but alas, she had nothing. A chill ran down Rarity's spine at the next words Nightmare Moon said.

"Remember this day little ponies, for it was your last. From this moment forth, the night will last FOREVER!"


	5. The Elements of Harmony Part 2

The night will last forever. Forever. Forever.

The words rang inside Rarity's head as she saw the figure of Nightmare Moon laughing in front of her. Her shock did briefly give way to irritation though. Sure being bad and bringing misery to other ponies was fun, but did she seriously have to stand there laughing like a maniac? It was so undignified.

As Nightmare Moon continued to laugh, Rarity was beginning to regret not crushing her throat when she had the chance. She was standing right in front of her; it would have been so easy! At that moment though, The Mayor motioned to a trio of royal guards. "Seize her! Only she knows where the Princess is!" The three charged Nightmare Moon prompting Rarity to question whether or not they even had a plan beyond saying "You are under arrest now tell us where Princess Celestia is." As the three charged her, Nightmare Moon's eyes glowed white.

"Stand back you foals!" she said. In that moment, she shot bolts of lightning at them, causing all three to be blasted back by her raw power. Rarity was suddenly glad that she had not attacked. She had no doubt that Nightmare Moon could have obliterated her with one swift move if she had failed to get an instant kill. However, at that exact moment, Nightmare Moon wrapped her flowing mane around herself and vanished into a cloud of starry smoke which instantly flew out the door of Town Hall. Rarity eased up a bit once she saw that Nightmare Moon had apparently left and she ran down the stairs towards the main crowd of ponies. Rainbow Dash had already flown out to try to catch the wisp of smoke but Rarity already knew that it was no use. Nightmare Moon was a Demigod after all.

Rarity spotted Applejack in one corner comforting a shaking Fluttershy while a concerned Pinkie Pie looked on and she ran towards them. As she approached she heard what applejack was saying to Fluttershy and moved next to Pinkie Pie. "It's alright sugar cube, Nightmare Moon's gone. She won't hurt you." Fluttershy continued shaking in fear, Applejack's words having no effect on her fear.

"But what if she comes back? You heard her; she wants the night to last forever! My animal friends can't live in eternal night! I can't life in eternal night! We're doomed, we're all doomed!"

"Now hold on there sugar cube, we aint just goin' to let this one go. Remember Twilight? The mare we had that part for today? Well, if she knew who that pony was then odds are that she knows how to stop her, or at the very least, what we ought to be doin' next."

"Yeah, Twilight will know how to defeat that nasty old meanie!" said Pinkie Pie. "I vote that we go and find her!"

"I think that Pinkie is correct, we really need to go see Twilight," said Rarity. Fluttershy nodded weakly but she seemed to have gotten ahold of her nerves better for the moment. With Applejack's help, Fluttershy got to her hooves and followed the other three ponies out the door of the Town Hall.

As soon as the four had exited, they were met with a determined, yet still slightly nervous, Rainbow Dash. "Where are you four going?" she asked the small group.

"Well, we figured that since Twilight knew so much about who Nightmare Moon was, then maybe she knows how to stop her!" said Rarity. Rainbow Dash's eyes lit up at this.

"Yeah, it is kind of funny how Twilight knew so much about Nightmare Moon isn't it? Let's go to Twilight's house! We haven't got a moment to lose!" With that, the five ponies ran towards the library. Rarity inwardly sighed as she remembered her original plans for the evening regarding Twilight and her dragon. She supposed that she would have to put those plans off for now, as filleting the one pony who could get them out of this mess seemed a bit counterproductive at the moment. However, she would have her time.

The library came into view and Rainbow Dash zoomed in ahead of the other four to question Twilight immediately. Within a few seconds, the other four had entered the room just in time to hear Rainbow's accusations. "...and how do you know so much about Nightmare Moon huh? Are you a spy!?" asked Rainbow Dash accusingly. Applejack pulled her back by her tail, quick to diffuse Rainbow's anger.

"Simmer down there Sally, she aint no spy. But she sure knows what's goin' on," said Applejack as the five ponies moved in closer to the purple unicorn. "Don't you Twilight?" Twilight sighed and began her explanation of the events of that night. She brought up something called the 'Elements of Harmony' and how they could potentially stop Nightmare Moon...if they could even be found that is. Rarity frowned. Maybe Twilight wouldn't be such a good help after all. However, at that moment, Pinkie's high pitched voice broke through Rarity's chain of thought.

"The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide," said Pinkie, examining one of the books on the shelves of the library. Twilight immediately knocked her out of the way and found the book that Pinkie had brought up.

"How did you find that!?" asked Twilight. Pinkie Pie began bouncing back towards the group; completely uncaring that she had just been knocked halfway across the room.

"It was under 'E,'" she said in a happy, singsong voice.

"Oh," said Twilight who then began reading through the book. Pinkie meanwhile had come to rest between Fluttershy and Rarity. "There are six Elements of Harmony," said Twilight as she read through the book "But only five are known: Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty, and Loyalty." At the mention of the word 'generosity', a feeling awoke inside of Rarity that she couldn't explain. It was almost as if a spirit was lying dormant inside of her, something that was a very part of her soul. It was a pure being that lay inside of her core, beyond the love of fashion, beyond her love for her family, beyond the need to kill even. Whatever it was, it seemed to have been awoken when Twilight mentioned The Element of Generosity. Twilight continued reading. "The sixth is a complete mystery. It is said that the last known location of the five Elements was in the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters. It is located in what is now..." Rarity blinked for a brief second. Suddenly, when she opened them she found herself at the edge of...

"...the Everfree Forest!" said all six ponies in unison. This was it, this was the first time in Rarity's life where she would be entering the forest with other ponies and she, theoretically, would not be the only one who came out in the end. It made her nervous. As per usual, Pinkie Pie immediately went back to her bubbly, happy, 'Pinkie Mode', as Rarity liked to call it. Pinkie smiled and began walking towards the forest.

"Whee! Let's go!" she said. Twilight stopped her.

"Not so fast!" she said, causing Pinkie to screech to a halt. "Look, I appreciate the offer, but I'd really rather do this on my own."

"Suit yourself," mumbled Rarity. However, Applejack laid any thoughts of that nature to rest.

"No can do sugar cube, we sure as hay aint lettin' any friend of ours go into that creepy place alone. We're stickin' to you like caramel on a candy apple." Rarity rolled her eyes at the analogy but followed Rainbow into the forest and copied the grunt of agreement that Rainbow and Fluttershy gave all the same.

"Especially if there's candy apples involved! What? Those things are good!" Rarity heard Pinkie say to the defeated looking Twilight.

As the group continued to walk towards whatever destination that Twilight was leading them to, she heard Twilight gain the nerve to begin talking about their situation. "So, none of you have ever been in here before?" she asked the group. Rarity had, of course, gone into The Everfree Forest dozens of times. However, she had never actually gone this far in. She knew that the farther one went into the forest, the more dangerous that pony's situation became. She decided to respond to Twilight.

"Heavens no! Just look at it, it's dreadful!" said Rarity, putting more fear into her reply then she really felt, although she was slightly afraid. She dearly wished that everything had gone to plan and that the Summer Sun Celebration had gone like it did every year. She would be slicing Twilight to ribbons right now instead of following her to some unknown fate.

"And it aint natural, folks say it don't work the same as Equestria," said Applejack.

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Twilight fearfully. At this, Rainbow Dash came out of the shadows and spoke in an ominous voice.

"Nooopony knows! You know why?" said Rainbow spookily. Rarity guessed that she was putting on a show to hide her own fears. Still, her voice did unlock tiny bits of fear inside Rarity. Applejack on the other hand, would have none of it.

"Rainbow, quit it!" said the farmer pony irritably. Rainbow moved in close to Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie, still doing her best to scare them. Despite herself, Rarity felt herself lean back a few inches.

"'Cause everypony who has ever come in has never...come...out!" said Rainbow with a yell. Before Rarity could reflect on that statement, she felt the ground underneath her give way. Rarity found herself and the other three non-Pegasi of the group sliding down towards a ledge. Rarity guessed that a steep drop awaited them at the end of the ledge and she gave a small squeal of terror. However, before she slid too far, she felt a tug on her tail and looked back to see herself being hoisted in the air by Fluttershy. Fluttershy carried her towards the ledge and flew down until they touched down on the ground. Rarity found herself thankful that she ended up on the ground in this manner as opposed to in a manner that would have required a mop to clean up.

She looked beside her to see Pinkie Pie, looking up at the ledge in fear. Rarity followed her line of sight and saw Twilight dangling on the edge, in imminent danger of falling to her death at any moment. However, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash had spotted this too and were flying underneath her, ready to catch her in case she did fall. It only took a few seconds for their position under Twilight to show its use as she fell towards the ground with a scream of terror, only to find herself in the capable hooves of the two Pegasi. Rarity breathed a sigh of relief as the two carried Twilight down towards where her and Pinkie stood. Applejack followed behind them, jumping down on different protruding ledges.

When the group reconvened where Pinkie and Rarity stood, Twilight ran over to Fluttershy and Rainbow and pulled them into a hug. "Oh, thank you both! I thought I was a goner for a minute there." Rainbow laughed at Twilight.

"Yeah well, what were we going to do? Just let you fall?"

"I'm glad you didn't," said Twilight, who was still catching her breath. Twilight pulled out of the Pegasus hug and grabbed Applejack into a hug. "Thanks for helping me through that. I didn't know what was going to happen." Applejack blushed.

"Aw, it aint nothin' Twilight," said the farmer.

They all began walking in a group again, and it was only a few seconds before Rainbow was recounting her tale of amazing heroism. Rarity chuckled at herself but managed to tune Rainbow out as she had learned to do very early on when the Pegasus began to get full of herself. She heard Twilight's voice break through the rant and started to pay attention to the conversation again just in time to hear the next piece of bad news.

"A manticore!" said Twilight in fear. Rarity looked where Twilight was looking and sure enough, a very angry looking manticore was blocking their path. He looked like he was about to charge at any second. Rarity had never seen a manticore this close up. She had only spotted on once when one of them was picking the remains of one of her victims clean. The manticore reared up on its hind legs and gave a mighty roar that shook Rarity to the core. "We've gotta get past him!" said Twilight determinedly. The manticore immediately sprung into full attack mode and pounced at Rarity, swiping his massive paw at her head. Rarity managed to duck just in time to avoid an instantaneous decapitation and wheeled around kick the manticore on the head with her hind legs as hard as she could. Her hind legs weren't as strong as the hind legs of a pony like Applejack, but they still packed quite a decent punch. She wheeled around to see the results of her strike.

"Take that you ruffian!" she said triumphantly. To her surprise, her kick did little more than anger the manticore, who roared directly in her face. Rarity felt her hair blow back from the force of the roar and looked up at it to see that the force of the roar had made it all frizzled and poofy. "My hair!" she wailed in agony before she realized that she had bigger problems at the moment. She looked back to see the growling manticore and with a yelp, she retreated.

She ran behind the group who was still doing their best to deal with the manticore. It was better that they dealt with it as Rarity could obviously do nothing about it right now. Besides, her hair demanded immediate attention. With a quick spell, she managed to curl it back to normal, just in time to see Rainbow flying fast around the manticore in an obvious attempt to make it dizzy. It didn't work as well as she hoped and Rainbow was sent flying with a flick of the manticore's scorpion-like tail.

Once Rainbow got up, Twilight geared up for a charge. Rarity saw the manticore do the same but Twilight made the first move and ran towards the manticore. Rarity and the others followed, Rarity desperately hoping that Twilight had an actual plan. To Rarity's surprise, and the surprise of the group frankly, they were stopped by Fluttershy who yelled for them to stop in a voice far louder than anything that Rarity had ever heard from her. She skidded to a halt, confused by this sudden outburst.

To Rarity's surprise, Fluttershy began walking up towards the manticore that promptly raised a paw, ready to obliterate the timid yellow Pegasus with one swift motion. Rarity closed her eyes tightly. She was used to death at this point but she couldn't bear to watch a friend of hers be swatted away, leaving only a broken and bloody corpse. Rarity braced herself for the sound of a sickening crunch but none came. She opened her eyes and was surprised to find the manticore, holding a giggling Fluttershy and licking her mane. Rarity's jaw dropped. She knew Fluttershy was good with animals but this...this was amazing!

She moved past Fluttershy and the happy manticore towards whatever challenge awaited them next. She turned back briefly to see Fluttershy talking briefly to Twilight, her mane sticking up in the most unseemly manner. Fluttershy walked closer to Rarity who stopped her for a brief moment. "Just one second darling, that creature made an awful mess of your mane."

"He's not an awful creature!" insisted Fluttershy as Rarity fixed her mane.

"Oh, yes, sorry, I meant manticore. There, all done darling, you look lovely," said Rarity with a smile.

"Oh, thank you Rarity." said Fluttershy who was trotting faster to keep up with the group. Rarity gave Fluttershy a happy smile as the six ponies walked towards the ancient ruins.

As the six continued to walk, Rarity was getting frustrated by the silence that had settled into the group. She felt the ground underneath her get squishier. "My eyes need a rest from all of this icky muck." complained the fashion loving unicorn. Yes, it was a silly complaint and Rarity wasn't even sure what it was supposed to mean really, but as they continued walking, the moon was obscured by the treetops and it became so dark that Rarity could hardly see her hoof in front of her face. "Well I didn't mean that literally." muttered Rarity.

"That ancient ruin could be right in front of our faces and we wouldn't even know it!" said Twilight.

"Oh wait, I think I stepped in somethin'." said Applejack, lifting up a dirty hoof caked in mud. Rarity was confused by the shriek of terror from Fluttershy that followed Applejack's revelation and apparently, so was Applejack.

"It's just mud," said Applejack. However, at that moment, Applejack turned to see what Fluttershy was screaming at. A giant, twisted tree stood in front of them, a threatening face plastered on its trunk. Now it was the turn of the other ponies to shriek in fear.

A million thoughts ran through Rarity's mind at that moment. The most prevalent one at the moment was the voice of reason that was itself panicking. "This is it," thought Rarity. "the deadliest serial killer in Equestria history is about to be eaten by a giant tree!" Rarity continued to scream, expecting at any moment to feel the twisted branches wrap around her body, bringing her closer to her doom. However, what she heard instead was laughter. Pinkie Pie laughter to be more specific. She managed to open her eyes and to her surprise, Pinkie Pie was standing in front of a tree, laughing her head off at how silly she thought it looked. Rarity's surprise increased when she noticed that the terrifying tree hadn't obliterated her.

"Pinkie, what are you doing? RUN!" said a frantic Twilight. Pinkie just laughed at this perfectly reasonable demand.

"Oh girls, don't you see?" said Pinkie, who promptly began moving to a beat that only she could hear. Within a few seconds, Pinkie began singing one of her famous, improvised songs. Rarity had often been present for the moments when Pinkie burst out into rambunctious song. Twilight on the other hand, had never had such an experience.

"Tell me she isn't," said Twilight. Rarity sighed inwardly.

"She is," said Rarity. Rarity felt that the song was ill timed as the trees would surely become annoyed at her singing and destroy them all, but Pinkie seemed to be singing about how best to handle the situation. Rarity worked up the nerve to listen in.

"She said 'Pinkie, you gotta stand up tall! Learn to face your fears, you'll see that they can't hurt you just laugh to make them disappear.'" At that moment, Pinkie turned towards one of the trees and with a confidence that Rarity certainly didn't share, and she laughed at it. Rarity's eyes widened as the offending face on the tree vanished without a trace. Soon, all of the ponies were laughing at the trees and to Rarity's surprise, they all disappeared, all of the faces. Rarity wasn't sure how it worked, but all she cared about now was the fact that they were no longer in danger. She didn't know how Pinkie had done it, but she had learned a long time ago that explaining Pinkie Pie was impossible.

Once the laughter of the six ponies faded away, they began their journey again. Somehow, Rarity found herself more at ease around the other five ponies. Certainly more so than she had ever been before. She had always adored Fluttershy and she had a soft spot for Pinkie Pie as well. She had always found Rainbow to be too self-absorbed for her tastes and she had always felt awkward around Applejack since the day that she had tried to kill her, the day Sweetie Belle was born. As for Twilight, well, Rarity had a set of knives waiting to carve Twilight up when they got back. She was seriously beginning to doubt whether or not killing Twilight was what she wanted anymore.

As the group continued to walk, they heard the sound of a rushing river draw closer to them. After a few minutes, they reached the source of the noise. Sure enough, the water was rushing too fast for them to even consider trying to cross it on hoof. "How are we going to cross this?" asked Pinkie Pie. With the help of the Pegasi of course. As she turned towards Pinkie to suggest this, they all heard a wail come from an area not too far from where they were. The group frowned and went over to the source of the misery.

When they got close, they saw a serpent with half a mustache, absolutely wailing in misery, splashing in the water. Rarity guessed that he was the source of the rapids. Twilight, walked up to him, confused by his tantrum. "Excuse me sir, why are you crying?" she asked. The serpent stopped his moaning long enough to answer.

"Well, I don't know. I was just sitting here, minding my own business when this tacky cloud of purple smoke whisked past me and tore half of my beloved mustache clean off! And now I look simply horrid!" said the serpent who broke out into a fresh string of wails. Rarity was surprised by the sudden amount of compassion she felt for this pitiful creature. Maybe it was just her love of fashion, but she felt a genuine need arise inside of her to help this poor soul. Applejack was not so tactful.

"That's what all the fuss is about?" asked Applejack confusedly. Rarity got indignant.

"Why of course it is!" she said. "How can you be so insensitive?" she asked the now even more confused pony. She turned to the dragon. "Oh, just look at him." She began stroking the serpent's snout in an attempt to calm him down. "Such lovely luminescent scales." she cooed. The serpent raised himself up, emboldened a bit by the compliment.

"I know!"

"And your expertly coiffed mane!"

"Oh I know, I know!"

"And your fabulous manicure!" said Rarity who was genuinely beginning to feel happier as the serpent was.

"It's so true!"

"All ruined without your beautiful mustache!" At this, the serpent got depressed again.

"It's true, I'm hideous," wailed the serpent. Rarity wouldn't go that far, but she narrowed her eyes.

"I simply cannot let such a crime against fabulosity go uncorrected!" said Rarity determinedly. She knew what she had to do. She leaned in and grasped one of the serpent's scales in her mouth and yanked. It came loose easily. The serpent recoiled in pain. Rarity payed him no heed as she raised the razor sharp scale high.

"Rarity what are you..." said Twilight before Rarity swung the scale. Instantly she felt the latter 3/4ths of her tail sever neatly like a hot knife through butter. Rarity had to remember this cutting weapon. She could definitely use it for later.

She paid no attention to the gasps of shock from the others as she used her magic to attach her tail to the ruined half of the mustache. The serpent perked up at this and gave a squeal of joy. "My mustache! How wonderful!"

"You look absolutely smashing" said Rarity happily. Twilight was looking at Rarity's severed tail.

"Oh Rarity, your beautiful tail!" said Twilight. Rarity turned to face the others with a half smile, half grimace on her face.

"It's quite alright my dear, short tails are in this season. Besides, it'll grow back," said Rarity. It was of course, a lie. Short tails were most certainly not in this season but Rarity didn't regret her decision for some reason she couldn't quite explain. She put on a smile as she crossed the river to the other side, not actually paying attention to her surroundings. Instead, she was deep in thought about this whole experience. Rarity had never actually had any true, deep, friends. True she had friends like Cheerilee growing up, but the two of them had grown apart as time went on, mainly because Rarity had been focusing more and more on her murders. But now, she was beginning to feel a deep bond forming between her and the other five ponies. She wasn't sure what it was and it certainly wasn't happening by choice. She still might kill Twilight after all of this was over...or would she?

She tuned back in to the real world in time to see Rainbow Dash fluttering her wings at Pinkie Pie and flying across a ravine to tie off a rope bridge that was the only thing stopping them from entering the castle. Rarity saw the ruins at the other side. Somehow she knew that the Rarity who went into the castle and the Rarity who came out at the end would be different ponies. Would she even still have the urge to kill anymore? She hardly noticed that Rainbow Dash was talking to a trio of ponies who looked like the evil twins of the Wonderbolts. She was far more focused on the moments ahead of them, the moments when The Elements of Harmony would be revealed.

After a short time, Rainbow Dash flew back over to the group. Rarity knew that she had defeated the other ponies somehow, but she was more focused on the task ahead of her, and the Elements of Harmony. A casual looker wouldn't be able to tell that she had been lost in thought for a while now.

As they entered the ruins, Rarity saw what the group had been looking for: The Elements of Harmony. Rarity surveyed the ancient stone relics. They really didn't look like much, just circular stones with a symbol carved on the front. However, Rarity knew that just because something looks plain and unassuming does not mean that there is not tremendous strength underneath. It was something that Rarity had suspected of Fluttershy for a while now that she thought of it. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy flew up and retrieved the Elements from their pedestals and put them down next to Twilight, their wings kicking up a cloud of dust as the flew close to the ground. Pinkie looked at the Elements and began counting.

"One, two, three, four...there's only five!" Rainbow raised her eyebrow at this revelation.

"Where's the sixth?" asked Rainbow. Twilight leaned down and examined the stone objects.

"The book said, "When the five are present, a spark will cause the sixth Element to be revealed,"" quoted Twilight.

'What in the hay does that mean?" asked Applejack. Twilight looked at the Elements determinedly.

"I'm not sure but I have an idea. Stand back! I don't know what this will do," said the purple unicorn. Her horn began to glow as she started to cast a spell on the Elements. As Rarity stood back, her heart began beating fast. Somehow, being in the presence of the Elements was affecting her somehow. Her eyes landed on one of them and in a weird way, it began to call to her she thought. However, Applejack beckoned the other four out of the room.

"Come on now y'all, she needs to concentrate," said Applejack, leading the rest out of the room. As much as Rarity hated this and did not want to miss whatever happened, she knew that Applejack was right and that Twilight needed to be on her own for right now. She filed out of the ruins with the rest of them.

It killed her inside to just sit there and wait, but she did not have to wait long. Within a few moments of the five leaving, they heard Twilight's shocked yell and the five rushed inside just in time to see Twilight jump inside a whirling vortex surrounding the Elements before she vanished without a trace.

Immediately, the five began running around the ruins in a vain attempt to find their new friend. Rarity knew that Twilight was no longer in that particular part of the ruins, and so she looked outside a window and saw a different part of the castle. Its windows were all lit up and Rarity immediately knew that Twilight and the Elements were in there. "Look!" she pointed to the other four. Applejack took immediate action.

"Come on!" she said to the other four and she led the charge towards a hallway, hoping that it would lead them to wherever Twilight was. Luckily for the five friends, the hallways of the ruins, what was left of them anyways, were fairly straightforward. Whatever parts of the castle that different turns had led to were long gone and there was only one staircase in their path that looked like it went somewhere else. Immediately the five took it and began calling out for Twilight.

As they reached the top of the stairs, Rarity heard Twilight talking confidently to Nightmare Moon, or at least, that's who Rarity assumed she was talking to. "Quiet!" she hissed to her friends who hushed up and listened to what she was saying. They couldn't make out the words, but as they entered the room, Twilight's speech to Nightmare Moon, who was standing on the opposite side of the room with what appeared to be the destroyed Elements at her feet, became clearer.

"Well you're wrong, because the spirits of the Elements of Harmony are right here!" said Twilight. All of a sudden, Rarity knew that everything was going to be okay. Not just the situation with Nightmare Moon, but her life. A warm voice reached out and talked to her soul, saying that everything was going to be okay. Rarity knew that it was the Element of Generosity. Rarity hardly paid attention to what Twilight was saying, but she saw a few shards of the shattered Elements at Nightmare Moon's feet rise from the floor and surround her.

All at once the voice of the Element of Generosity became clear. "We know what you are Rarity. Society would deem you a monster for the crimes that you have committed, but we see past the bloodshed that has been brought on by your hooves. We know what lies in store for you. Your road will not always be an easy one and your desire for the blood of others, a desire that you have been unfortunate enough to feel since your youth, is a part of who you are. Everypony has a dark side to them Rarity, but it is you who must decide how to deal with it." As soon as it came, the voice left. Rarity turned her attention back to the matters at hand.

"The spirits of these five ponies got us through every challenge you threw at us!" said Twilight determinedly. Rarity glared at the evil being in front of them. It was time for a reckoning for Nightmare Moon.

"You still don't have the sixth Element! The spark didn't work!" said a visibly nervous Nightmare Moon. Rarity knew that Nightmare Moon knew that all hope was lost, she had been defeated.

"But it did work! A different kind of spark!" Twilight turned towards each of the five ponies and spoke as if their very beings were now one. "I felt it the very moment I realized how happy I was to hear you, to see you. How much I cared about you. The spark ignited inside me, when I realized you all are my friends!" As she said those last words, the sixth Element of Harmony appeared above Twilight. Rarity smiled inside. Any doubts of victory for the fallen Demigod were now surely gone. Rarity somehow knew that this was the Element of Magic. It probably had something to do with her spirit being entwined with an Element as well. Just as Twilight confirmed that this was indeed the Element of Magic, Rarity saw that the shards around her formed into a necklace that immediately placed itself around Rarity's neck. A beam of light shot out of each Element which then formed a beam of pure rainbow which enveloped Nightmare Moon. Nightmare Moon's yells of terror faded away as the rainbow beam seemingly obliterated her.

Once the rainbow beam faded away, Rarity felt her hooves were back on the ground. She knew that she had just used an amazing amount of magic, but she did not feel tired at all. As a matter of fact, she felt better than she had in her entire life. She realized that her tail felt odd for some reason. she looked behind her and to her delight, her tail had grown back! Fluttershy addressed her when she saw this. "Oh, why Rarity, it's so lovely!" Rarity brought her tail close to her head and nuzzled it.

"I know, I'll never part with it again!" she said happily.

"No, I mean your necklace. It looks just like your cutie mark!" Rarity looked down and sure enough, on the center of her necklace was a gem, shaped just like her cutie mark. She looked at Fluttershy.

"So does yours!" said Rarity. Each of the ponies examined their Element and made the same discovery that Rarity and Fluttershy made.

"Gee Twilight, I thought you were just spoutin' a lot of hooey, but I reckon we really do represent the elements of friendship," said Applejack. At that moment, a powerful, yet serene voice filled the room.

"Indeed you do," said the voice. At that precise moment, the sun rose on the horizon and a regal looking alicorn stood in the middle of the room, looking proudly at them all. Rarity gasped inwardly and sunk to her knees. This, was Princess Celestia. Rarity was in awe of the princess. She had never met her before and she had only seen pictures of her, but Rarity felt that those pictures did not do her the raw power of her presence justice. Rarity was both comforted and frightened at the sight of her ruler. Did she know what Rarity was? Did she know, and tolerate it because Rarity was an bearer of an Element of Harmony? Rarity's eyes glanced over to the remains of Nightmare Moon and to her surprise, she saw a small alicorn, lying on the ground. This was clearly all that was left of the evil Nightmare Moon. Rarity briefly remembered the knives she had in her basement. If she could just...no, it would be impossible. However, before Rarity could react any further, Princess Celestia walked over to the huddled alicorn and addressed her. "Princess Luna." Luna looked up and when she saw Celestia, she shrank back in fear. "It has been a thousand years since I have seen you like this. Time to put our differences aside. We were meant to rule together little sister." Rarity was slightly surprised by this. So Nightmare Moon and Princess Celestia were sisters? Well, then it would be awkward for Rarity to kill Nightmare Moon now wouldn't it?

As Rarity looked on, Celestia forgave Luna and Luna accepted Celestia's forgiveness. it was a beautiful moment.

The next few hours had passed by in a blur for Rarity. The biggest thing that she remembered was that Twilight would be staying permanently in Ponyville. Rarity was very pleased by this notion. She had fully accepted Twilight, as well as the others, as her friends now. She had never had that kind of deep connection before but she knew her friends were beyond friends now. They were her family.

Rarity unlocked the door to her house. Pinkie's party that she had thrown in honor of the return of Princess Luna had worn her, and indeed everypony, out. Rarity had one stop to make before collapsing on her bed.

She played the piano that opened her secret basement. As she entered the basement the gore that lined the walls and floors became slightly repulsive to her now. Rarity felt even more sickened by the pony pelts that decorated her wall. She trotted over to her workbench, not even bothering to put on the special shoes that prevented her from getting blood on her hooves. As she sat down, she stared at her shiny metal tray which held all of the tools that she had meant to use on Twilight. She had wanted to kill Twilight Sparkle. She had set up her private room to kill Twilight Sparkle. Twilight was a mare who was now as much a part of her life as Sweetie Belle, a pony she had promised that she would NEVER hurt under any circumstances.

All of a sudden, a great wave of anger consumed Rarity and she knocked over the tray, sending her instruments of death sliding along the floor. She gave a roar and began tearing up her kill room. She ripped the knives in her desk out of their holders and flung them across the room. She tore at the straps on her kill table that held ponies down and ripped them clean off. She used her magic to tear her grim decorations from their spots on the wall and she threw them on the blood stained floor. Rarity tried to gain control of her anger but she was surprised to find that it gave way to overwhelming sorrow. She collapsed on the ground, sobbing into her front legs.

She curled up into a ball and continued wailing in self pity. She was a monster. She didn't deserve to live, much less be a wielder of an Element of Harmony. She represented the Element of Generosity and yet she had spent her entire life forcibly taking from ponies what was most precious from them. The worst part for her though, was that even though she felt evil, she didn't feel regret. She didn't know why but despite the fact that a plethora of negative emotions plagued her right now, regret for her actions wasn't one of them. How was that even possible?

Eventually, she calmed down enough to come to her senses. She wiped the last tears from her eyes and looked around her room. Knives were scattered everywhere and the pelts and manes were beginning to become a little bloody. Rarity quickly used her magic to put everything back into place where it belonged as well as to repair any damage to anything. She stood up and looked at herself. She was colored in blood and tears. Not a very flattering combination.

As she looked around her room, she remembered times when she had considered using her skills to rid Sweetie Belle of any bullies. She desperately wanted to protect her sister from everything but she had long since made it a rule to not kill foals. However, anypony who hurt her new friends...now that was a different matter. Rarity surveyed her room and grinned maniacally. This room would now serve a higher purpose than merely satisfying urges. Now, this would be a room for punishment! Rarity had killed as punishment before of course, but she now felt a new justification for that. She would now view an attack on one of her friends as an attack on her.

Rarity walked up the stairs to take a bath, the maniacal smile still plastered over her face.


	6. Extortion and Revenge

Rarity didn't know how it had happened, but she had been found out. Well, that wasn't entirely true, she knew what had happened. She knew that Applejack had somehow found out about her basement in Carousel Boutique and at that very moment, a swarm of Celestia's personal guards were deconstructing the scene, marking the hides and manes that had adorned her wall, scraping up fragments of fur, bone, and horn to see if they could get positive IDs on any of Rarity's victims, and collecting blood samples from the floor for the same reason.

Rarity had actually been in her basement with a victim when they came for her. She was dissecting a pony just a few years younger than Rarity herself was. Rarity had spotted her in the post office being very rude to Pinkie Pie and well, Pinkie Pie was family and Rarity believed in protecting ones family. At the moment when they had come in, Rarity was in the middle of slicing through her victim's middle with a hacksaw. As she hacked away and her victim screamed for mercy, Rarity had heard the doorbell ring. Groaning, she had put her hacksaw down and after a few seconds of cleanup, she had gone to answer the door. As soon as it opened, what seemed like a platoon of royal guards burst into the room. Three had immediately grabbed Rarity and pinned her down as well as placing a freezing spell on her. She could only watch in horror as they found her secret room.

One of the guards who had gone down into her basement had come back up, his face green from disgust. One of the others who was guarding Rarity at the moment started talking to him. "It's that bad down there huh?"

"Worse," said the guard who was obviously seconds from throwing up. "I've never seen so much blood, and there was a pony alive down there, all hacked open. We could see her guts spilling out of her body as we came down." He turned towards Rarity with a vengeful fire in his eye. "You are going to die for this murderer!" Rarity couldn't even weep in fear.

She had been brought to Canterlot for her trial in front of the royal princesses themselves. Rarity remembered that as she was led away, she saw her new friends in the crowd that had gathered around her shop, looking on to see what the commotion was. Applejack looked grimly satisfied, but Rarity saw tears falling from her eyes just the same. Pinkie's hair and mane had deflated and they now hung like curtains instead of their usual bouncy state. Her pink coloration had lost its shine and her eyes were dripping tears as well. Fluttershy had her hooves wrapped around Rainbow Dash's shoulder and she was sobbing harder than she had ever sobbed in her life. Rainbow herself was fighting a losing battle with her emotions and Rarity saw tears falling from her eyes as well. However, the one that hurt Rarity to see the most was Twilight. She wasn't crying she just had a look of utter betrayal on her face. She shook her head once she saw that Rarity was looking at her. Rarity flinched to when she saw the betrayed look on Twilight's face turn to rage. Twilight began walking towards the prison carriage that the royal guards were loading Rarity onto. She turned to the guards and demanded a few words with Rarity. She got her way of course. Being Celestia's protégé had its perks even in the darkest of times.

As Twilight approached the carriage, Rainbow and Applejack trotted over as well. Fluttershy moved on to holding Pinkie Pie for comfort. Twilight stared deep into Rarity's eyes. "How long have you been doing this?" she asked coldly. Rarity couldn't answer, she couldn't tell the truth.

"Twilight, I don't think..."

"HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN BUTCHERING OTHER PONIES RARITY!?" yelled Twilight who was just now beginning to shed tears. "And don't lie." she finished quietly. Rarity began crying now too now that the shock that it was all over had worn off.

"I first killed three schoolyard bullies at the age of eight. I've been doing it since then," said Rarity. It tore her apart inside to admit this to the ponies that she considered her family. Twilight nodded grimly.

"How many?" asked Twilight.

"I have killed seventy-one ponies," said Rarity simply. At this revelation, Rainbow buried her head in Applejack's shoulder and began openly sobbing now. Applejack glared at Rarity through her tears.

"Have you ever thought about killin' one of us Rarity?" asked Applejack quietly. Of all of the questions she could have gotten, this was the one that she had hoped her friends would never ask. It was pointless to lie now.

"That night your parents died Applejack, the reason that we ended up in the forest was because I had led you there to kill you. I figured that if you were so sad about your parent's death, I would reunite you to ease your suffering. I stopped because you mentioned that you had a baby sister. I couldn't bring myself to do it as I had just gotten a baby sister of my own that night."

"Anyone else?" asked Twilight coldly.

"The day you came to Ponyville to supervise preparations, I set up my basement to kill you and Spike once the celebration was over. You had torn a hole in a dress that I had made you see." said Rarity. She instantly regretted adding that part. To see Twilight's reaction to this news, one would imagine that she had just been slapped in the face but she soon regained her composure.

"Speaking of Spike, once he found out what kind of a monster you really are, he shut down. He seems to have gone into a self-induced coma because of what you did Rarity and I don't know what to do with him now! Think about that while you're rotting away," said Twilight bitterly. She beckoned her friends and they walked away, never to see Rarity again. At the moment that they left, the prison carriage began to move towards Canterlot. In a last attempt, Rarity reached through the bars to her friends.

"I'm so sorry Twilight, please don't let them kill me!" said Rarity helplessly. Twilight didn't respond.

The carriage arrived in Canterlot and was pulled towards the royal palace. Ponies lined up in the streets to catch a glimpse of the deadliest serial killer in Equestria history being pulled to her doom. Rarity merely curled up into a ball on the floor of the carriage. She had abandoned any attempts at dignity when she saw how her friends reacted to finding out what she really was.

Eventually the carriage stopped. The door opened and Rarity was led out to face the wrath of the princesses. Rarity was led to a large door that she surmised opened into the courtroom where she would face her judgment. When the ponies were in front of it, the door opened from inside. Rarity was confused to see that the room was empty but before she could think too much about it, she was shoved inside and the door was slammed behind her.

Rarity looked around the golden hall. It looked like an average court room but she had expected to see somepony there waiting for her. She didn't get it, wasn't she going to have a trial?

She did not have long to brood with her thoughts. Within a few minutes of her forced entry into the room, a large door on the opposite side of her opened and in walked Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. At the sight of the two regal sisters, Rarity shrank back as far as she could. To her surprise though, neither princess looked angry at her. Luna looked contemplative and Celestia's look was one of sorrow. "My dear Rarity, what have you done?" said Celestia sadly. Rarity began to shed tears again.

"I...I...I don't even know. I killed ponies, if that's what you want to hear," said Rarity.

"How many of our subjects met their ends at your hooves?" asked Luna quietly. Rarity wished they would just be angry at her like Twilight and Applejack were. This sorrow and disappointment were far worse than the wrath that she had endured from Twilight. However, she could not lie. If this was the end, and she knew it was, she was going to be completely honest.

"Seventy-one Princess Luna. All told I killed 31 stallions, 34 mares, four fillies, and two colts." The statistics were like a knife in Celestia's heart and Rarity saw tears form in her eyes. . Seventy-one of her subjects were now dead at the hooves of the wielder of the Element of Generosity. The realization of it all was like losing a child. "I deserve whatever is coming to me." said Rarity who had stopped crying and was slowly becoming apathetic towards her situation. What was the point of tears now?

"What are you thinking now Rarity?" asked Luna. Rarity was surprised by the question, but held the surprise at bay long enough to answer.

"I...why aren't you angry with me? Why haven't you obliterated me where I stand!? I have killed more ponies than any other serial killer in Equestria history and yet despite all of that, you don't seem to be mad at me. WHY!?" asked Rarity frantically. The two sisters looked grimly at each other.

"My dear Rarity, it is true that what you have done is beyond terrible and you will be remembered forever in history as a monster," said Celestia sadly. "I feel sorrow, not anger because you are a wielder of an Element of Harmony. You had so much good in you, even now I know that. I feel that you would have gone on to do great things had this not happened."

"I do not wrath because you freed me from my dark persona of Nightmare Moon," said Luna. "I have done far worse than you have ever done and you helped free me from that side of me."

"You never killed like I did!" said Rarity. "You never tore off the horn of a unicorn filly before you buried her alive." Celestia shed a single tear at this detail and had to turn her head for a brief moment to regain her composure. Luna however, raised an eyebrow at Rarity.

"You think I never killed as Nightmare Moon?" said Luna. "You think I never slowly watched a filly die at my hooves? Tore families apart so that their sorrow would be greater than ever before they met their ends? You think I never tortured a small child to insanity?"

"But I've done all of those things too!" said Rarity. "I'm just as bad as Nightmare Moon if you have done what I have. Does amount really matter?" Luna contemplated this answer for a brief moment.

"Nevertheless Rarity, you cannot imagine some of the terrors I wrought as Nightmare Moon. You are guilty of heinous crimes against ponydom, but never feel that I do not sympathize with the need to destroy."

"Enough of this!" said Celestia. "I don't want to be reminded of all of that." Luna nodded.

"Forgive me sister, I merely wished to give Rarity a small comfort, whether she deserves it or not. I feel I owe her at least that much," said Luna. Celestia nodded and turned her attention back towards Rarity.

"Before we pass down our judgement on you Rarity, we have one thing to say," said Princess Celestia. Rarity looked up into Celestia's eyes, fearing the words that would come next.

To Rarity's utter surprise, Princess Celestia broke out into a huge, goofy grin and she brought her face very close to Rarity's. "Rarity, are you in there? Come out Rarity!" said Princess Celestia in...Pinkie Pie's voice? Wait, since when did Princess Celestia talk like Pinkie Pie!?

Rarity's eyes snapped open. It took her a few minutes to realize that it had all been a terrible nightmare. A terrible, terrible nightmare. Rarity took a few deep breaths, the realization that she was not about to be executed and that her friends didn't know about her secret life as a serial killer and thus still loved her slowly washed over her. She heard Pinkie Pie's voice call to her from outside her house once more. "Rarity! Wake up you sleepyhead!" said the pink party pony happily. "I need your help with something!" Rarity groaned and rolled out of bed. Walking over to her window, she opened it to see Pinkie Pie looking up at her and bouncing happily. Rarity yawned and rubbed her eyes.

"Oh, hello there Pinkie Pie," she said sleepily. "Of course I will help you darling, just give me a moment to wake up and get ready."

"Okie dokie loki!" said Pinkie Pie happily. Rarity looked in the mirror to see that her mane needed styling again and with a quick spell, she curled it perfectly as always. She then lifted up a brush and brushed her coat a few times. After that, she went downstairs and quickly ate an apple before putting some mints in her mouth and opened the door to go meet Pinkie Pie. Pinkie looked elated to see her friend as always.

"Good morning Pinkie Pie," said Rarity. "What can I help you with this morning?"

"Well, I need somepony to help me carry a delivery back to Sugar Cube Corner. See, the Cakes ordered a large amount of confectionery supplies and they asked me if I would bring it back since they need to set up for the morning. I realized that I needed some help and then I remembered that you and I haven't hung out in a while and I thought this would be the perfect opportunity!" said Pinkie Pie. Rarity smiled at the hyper pink pony.

"Of course I'll help you darling! I have wanted to spend some time with you lately as well and you are quite right, this is a good way to do that," said Rarity. Pinkie widened her smile which Rarity returned and the two friends walked, or in Pinkie's case bounced, over to the post office.

After a few minutes, the duo reached their destination and walked inside. Rarity and Pinkie walked up to the counter, expecting to see the usual clumsy, cross-eyed Pegasus that Rarity was so fond of there to assist them. Instead they were met with an earth pony mare who gave them a blank stare as they came up to her.

"Good afternoon miss," said Rarity to the bored looking pony. "Might I ask where Derpy is today?"

"I don't think that is any of your business," said the mare flatly. Rarity raised an eyebrow at this, but shrugged it off all the same.

"I see then, well perhaps you can assist us then. We are here to pick up an order for the Cake family. Do you think you could help us?" said Rarity, trying to smile and be friendly. The mare just sighed and rolled her eyes at Rarity. Rarity half expected the mare to tell them to go away, but instead, she slowly got up off of her chair and walked over to a record book.

"You're here for the package for Sugar Cube Corner right? Order 8675309?" she said.

"Yes indeedy doo!" said Pinkie, bouncing happily. The mare rolled her eyes once more at the duo. Rarity was beginning to lose her patience with this rude pony. The mare went to a back room and returned with four brown paper packages tied up with string. "That's them!" said Pinkie.

"By the way Pinkie, what is in those boxes?" asked Rarity.

"Just a few of my favorite things!" said Pinkie. Pinkie and Rarity each took two of the packages from the mare. Rarity leaned in close to see the name tag of the mare. Her name was Janice.

"Alright you two, I need one of you to sign for these and pay for them," said Janice irritably. Rarity guessed that it was clearly a big bother for Janice to get up off of her chair and actually do work. Rarity glared at her, she was skating on thin ice, treating Pinkie Pie like she was an annoyance. Pinkie Pie however, paid no heed to the rude behavior of the worker and signed the clipboard that Janice offered her. Pinkie then pulled out a dozen bits and put them on the counter.

"Okay Rarity, let's get these babies home!" said Pinkie, walking away.

"Not so fast," said Janice angrily. "you owe us 20 bits for these packages. That was the deal, five bits per package." Pinkie Pie cocked her head and looked at Janice quizzically.

"Umm...but when we ordered them, your boss said it was only three bits per package."

"Well I guess even my boss can make a mistake huh?" said Janice. Rarity could swear that Janice was trying to hold back an evil grin. Suddenly, what Janice was doing made sense to Rarity. She was trying to extort Pinkie Pie! She was going to pocket the extra eight bits that the post office made from the sale. Pinkie Pie shrugged and put an additional eight bits on the counter before walking out the door. Rarity looked back and sure enough, Janice was surreptitiously sliding the eight bits into her pocket. Rarity growled at her quietly. It was the basement for her.

As soon as Rarity had dropped off the packages, stopping briefly for a 'thank you' cupcake from Pinkie Pie, Rarity rushed home to prepare her basement for Janice's arrival. She flung open her desk and pulled out a vegetable peeler, a skinning knife, and a boning knife and placed them on her tray. She hoped that it would be enough but the knifes in her desk weren't going anywhere.

Soon Rarity was trotting back to the post office with a giant burlap sack rolled up in her saddlebag. She entered the post office to see that Janice was still sitting at her desk, filing her front hooves. When she heard the bell over the door ring, she looked up to see Rarity enter. She groaned When she saw Rarity walk towards her. "You again, what do you want now?" she asked irritably. Rarity gave Janice a sugary sweet grin.

"I'm so glad you asked," she said as she hopped over the counter to the side where Janice was stationed. "I was hoping you could help me with something." Janice slammed the hoof file on the counter and stood up angrily.

"You aren't allowed to be back here! Get out before I call the cops on you!" Rarity merely giggled.

"I doubt it if you will ever see another pony of the law ever again in your entire life!" said Rarity. Janice looked at her quizzically. Rarity reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a tiny syringe. Before Janice could react to it, Rarity stuck the needle into her neck. Janice immediately fell to the floor, completely unconscious. Rarity smiled happily and proceeded to stuff Janice into the burlap sack she had brought with her. Rarity looked around to see if anypony had seen her. No witnesses in the area. Rarity breathed a sigh of relief at this. She didn't want to kill any innocent ponies.

Rarity had absolutely not trouble transporting Janice to her basement. The sack she was carrying had a picture of potatoes on the front so anypony who saw her merely assumed that she was carrying a sack of potatoes. It was a trick that she had used many times and it had always worked like a charm.

Once Rarity was safely in her basement, she strapped Janice to the table and sat down at her workbench. If her calculations were correct, and if she had gotten the correct dosage for a pony of Janice's size, she should be waking up at...ah, she was waking up now. Janice gave a groan of pain and began looking around. When she saw the room around her, the pony hides and manes hung up on the wall, and the dried blood on the floor, she screamed in terror. She began struggling against the straps holding her to the table but it was no use. Rarity walked into her line of sight. "Oh, don't bother trying to work your way out of the straps darling, nopony has been able to yet," said Rarity. Janice looked into Rarity's eyes with fear. Rarity wheeled her tray in front of the table and used a lever to turn the table so that it was vertical. She ran her hoof over Janice's fur and mane and looked at her wall before shaking her head. "You really need to take better care of yourself darling, your fur and mane are a nightmare."

Rarity walked over to her workbench and placed the skinning knife lovingly in its usual spot before picking up a machete. As she walked back over to her victim, Janice began stuttering something to Rarity. Rarity perked up her ears and leaned in close. "What's that darling?" she asked kindly.

"I-I-If you l-l-let me g-g-o I promise not to..." but before Janice could finish her sentence, Rarity's eyes were consumed by rage, and she slammed the machete on the table, close enough to Janice's head to cut off the tip of her ear.

"IF YOU ARE GOING TO SAY 'IF YOU LET ME GO I PROMISE NOT TO TELL ANYONE' I WILL MAKE YOUR LAST HOURS OF LIFE MORE MISERABLE THAN YOU CAN POSSIBLY IMAGINE!" screeched Rarity. Janice began shaking in terror at Rarity's outburst. Seeing this, Rarity calmed down and stroked Janice's mane with her hoof. "Shhh, it's okay," said Rarity softly. "Just try and relax darling. I'm sorry I lost my temper there just now. Just relax and it'll all be okay soon." Janice did not stop her shaking at these words. Rarity sighed and started pacing a bit. "I just hate it when ponies say that to me that's all." she said irritably. "As if my decorations alone weren't enough to tell the ponies that I bring down here that this is the end for them. It's a rather foolish statement and I get it every time and I'm just too tired of it to tolerate it anymore. Take this pony for instance," said Rarity pointing to a dark blue hide on her wall. "She continued to repeat it even after I had sawed off her hind legs. I mean really, there comes a time when you just need to stop being foolish accept what is happening to you."

Rarity turned her attention back to Janice who had her eyes shut tightly and was muttering to herself. Rarity curiously walked back over to her and leaned in to hear what she was saying. "It's only a dream, it's only a dream, it's only a dream," repeated the terrified pony to herself. Rarity just laughed at this.

"Oh I assure you that this is no dream darling, this is very, very, very real." Rarity pulled the machete out of the table and wiped the flecks of blood off of the knife. "Now Janice, I need you to look at me please," said Rarity. Janice continued to mutter to herself, not paying Rarity's order any heed.

Rarity rolled her eyes and sighed at this foolishness. Seeing no other choice, she took the machete and made a deep cut into Janice's right hind leg. The pain brought Janice out of her foolish tirade and she let out an ear-splitting scream. Rarity briefly covered her ears but thankfully, Janice only let out one scream before she began hyperventilating. Rarity decided to try again. "Janice, I need you to look at me darling." Janice continued to hyperventilate, but she turned her attention towards Rarity. "Good, now, it is important that you answer honestly because it is going to save you a lot of trouble and pain. Do you know why you are here?" said Rarity. Janice continued to hyperventilate as she looked down at her leg which began bleeding profusely.

Rarity followed her line of sight and clicked her tongue. "Oh dear, I think I may have cut you too deep. I'm terribly sorry about that. Answer me truthfully and I will stop the bleeding. You might want to hurry though, I think I cut you deep enough that you'll bleed out in about 25 minutes." Janice took a few seconds to stop hyperventilating before she stuttered out a response.

"I, I'm here because I took that money from your friend," she said weakly.

"And?" said Rarity.

"And because I was rude to you." Rarity broke out into a grin.

"Excellent!" said Rarity. "Alright, I am a pony of my word so let me stop the bleeding here." Rarity took a piece of cloth and tied it tightly around Janice's sliced open leg to create a tourniquet. "There you are, that should slow the bleeding down nicely." Janice merely groaned in pain. "Well, we should get started as I can't be doing this all day as much a I would like to. Would you like anything before we begin? A glass of water perhaps?" Janice moved her head to look at Rarity.

"W-why are you being so nice to me now?" she asked confusedly. Rarity smiled at her and began stroking her mane comfortingly.

"Well you're kind of pathetic now aren't you?" said Rarity softly. Janice turned her head and looked away from Rarity. Rarity nodded at this display. "Very well, I suppose we should begin now." Rarity looked at the machete in her hand and decided that it didn't feel right to use in this situation. She once again went back to her workbench. Replacing the machete, she scanned the various tools she had in order to find something that suited her fancy at this particular moment. After a few seconds, her eyes landed one in particular and Rarity knew that it would be the best: the hacksaw.

She picked it up and walked back over to Janice. "Okay darling, this is going to hurt more than anything you have ever experienced." Rarity saw Janice tighten up, anticipating the feeling of the hacksaw slicing her up. Rarity placed the saw on Janice's stomach and began cutting her open. To Rarity's surprise, Janice didn't scream, she didn't even cry. She just tensed up, hoping that it would be over soon.

A she continued to cut open Janice's stomach, she began to get annoyed by the lack of extreme reaction she was getting out of this pony. She was cutting her open with a hacksaw and getting no reaction to speak of from her victim! That had certainly never happened before. usually they were screaming or crying or begging for mercy. Silence was the most unusual reaction.

Within a few more minutes, Rarity felt the blade of the hacksaw scraping across the ends of Janice's ribs and she stopped cutting. Seeing this as good of a time as any, she placed the hacksaw on the tray and spoke to Janice. "Why don't you cry? Why don't you scream? Surely this must hurt darling," said Rarity. Janice took a few seconds to respond.

"N-n-not gonna g-g-give you the pleasure," she said weakly. Rarity raised her eyebrow and cocked her head. The room was silent for a few seconds while Rarity mulled this answer over. Rarity broke out in a small smile.

"I find that interesting darling, very interesting indeed," said Rarity. She picked up the hacksaw and began cleaning it with another strip of cloth. "Do you know that I do not exactly remember all of my victims? Goodness knows, I can't remember every single pony out of the 71 that I have killed." At that number, Janice opened he eyes wide and stared at Rarity in horror. "However," she continued, ignoring he expression. "I must say that I will most certainly remember you. It's not everyday that you slice open a pony and she has a strong enough will to not make a peep. I think you would have been an interesting pony to know outside of this." Rarity picked up the hacksaw again and shrugged. "Oh well, back to work I guess. Now since I have started to feel the hacksaw scraping against your ribcage, I think I started too high up. I'm going to begin again but go a little lower this time okay?" Janice shut her eyes again and turned her head away. Rarity shrugged and began anew.

She only got a few centimeters in when she heard the doorbell ring. She perked up her ears and stopped sawing. She put the hacksaw down and began cleaning herself up. "Don't move, I'll be right back," she told Janice.

As Rarity bounded up the stairs, she stopped dead in her tracks. The dream. This was all going exactly like her dream! Postal worker who was rude to Pinkie, cutting her up with a hacksaw to the stomach when the doorbell rang...who was at the door? Rarity decided that she was being foolish...wasn't she? Of course she was, nopony knew what she was doing down here...right?

As she approached her door, she was getting more and more nervous. She was becoming less and less sure that a platoon of Royal Guards wasn't waiting for her on the other side of the door. Rarity, her heart beating like a drum, swung the door open, expecting the worst...but not getting it. Rarity looked down at the ground and saw a beautiful bouquet of flowers on her doorstep! She breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. Why was she worried at all?

She leaned in and took a deep sniff into the flowers. They were wonderfully fragrant and they instantly made Rarity forget all of her worries and...Rarity had the sudden urge to sneeze. Her head shot up out of the flowers and Rarity saw sneezing powder at the end of her nose. Immediately she began sneezing, vowing to find whoever did this and get her revenge. She sneezed a few more times before she heard laughter coming from the bushes next to her house. Following the source of the laughter, she saw Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, holding up a jar of sneezing powder and laughing at Rarity's sneezes.

Before Rarity could do anything, Rainbow zoomed away, dropping the jar of sneezing powder behind her. The fall caused some of the powder to fly up into Pinkie's nose and with one sneeze, Pinkie flew backwards and out of sight. Rarity smirked at this. It was just her friends pulling a harmless prank. She must get them back for it someday but for now, she had other work to do.

Going back downstairs, she saw a very pale Janice, her eyes closed and a pool of blood all around her. Rarity walked over to her and checked her pulse. She was alive but only just. She would bleed out in a little under five minutes. Rarity sighed and stroked Janice's mane once more. "You've been very brave darling," she said. Janice's eyes fluttered open. She was clearly too weak for a response. Rarity walked over to her workbench and picked up a large hammer. Walking back over to Janice, she said "I know you only have a few minutes left in you, so I decided to just cut your time short." Rarity raised the hammer high. "Don't worry, this probably won't hurt."

With that, she swung the hammer down and made contact with Janice's head. She felt the sickening crunch of the hammer connecting with her skull which instantly caved in and killed Janice.

Rarity dropped the hammer onto the tray. Despite not having a good enough hide or mane to make it onto Rarity's wall, Janice had a spirit to her that Rarity really liked. She had to have something of hers to remember her by. As she looked over the corpse, she noticed that Janice took very good care of her hooves. Indeed, Rarity had remembered that when she had drugged her, Janice had been filing her hooves. Rarity decided they were the perfect thing. Rarity picked up her hacksaw once more and got to work.


	7. Gilda

Rarity finished cleaning up the last remains of Janice. It had taken her all night to dismember the corpse and get rid of the remains, but as the morning sun came up over the horizon, Rarity finished her work. Rarity smiled fondly at the four severed hooves which were tied together with a string which had been hung up on her wall next to the pelts. Going back upstairs, she decided to draw herself a bath to simply relax in. A unique and memorable kill like Janice relaxed Rarity very much and she was far too lazy at the moment to get any work done for the shop. Besides, she deserved a personal day.

She drew a hot bath for herself, complete with the most fragrant bubble bath that she could find, and slowly lowered herself into the bath, with a contented sigh. "Oh, today was simply marvelous Rarity. Not only did you get revenge for Pinkie Pie, but you also had a wonderful kill, even if you didn't get to draw it out nearly as much as you wanted."

"Well that's how life goes sometimes Rarity. At the very least, you got some time."

"Part of me wishes that I had extended it more to break her spirit. I could have gotten hours if I had taken that approach, Rarity," mused Rarity.

"Oh I don't think so darling, she was bleeding out rather fast. I suppose that now you know not to slice a leg open like that."

"True Rarity, true."

After a 20 more minutes, Rarity decided that she had actually better get out of the tub and do something. But what could she do? This was her one problem with being a serial killer, she never actually could figure out what to do in the immediate hours after her latest kill. She relished the days when some matter called her attention once she had finished the cleanup.

Rarity dried off and decided that as long as she was being lazy today, she might as well go the whole nine yards and go to the spa. Yes, the spa sounded like a wonderful idea.

After drying off, she moseyed on down to the spa, enjoying the warm rays of sunshine that were covering her body. The day was continuing to be bright and glorious day.

As Rarity passed the town square, she saw a sight that she had never expected to see before in her life. A griffin! Rarity had never seen a griffin before, but the sight of her gave Rarity chills. She was the size of a pony and had the front half of an eagle with the back half of a lion. Rarity just imagined her pelt hanging on her wall, but there really was no need for that. She was very likely a perfectly nice creature and Rarity didn't see the point.

As she kept walking towards the spa, she continued to keep an eye on what the griffin was doing. To her surprise, she stole an apple from a cart and ate it without paying for it! Rarity raised an eyebrow. Did the griffin actually deserve a trip to her basement? As she mulled it over, she stopped Bon Bon on the street. "Please excuse me darling, but do you know who that griffin is?" Bon Bon gave a small nod.

"Yeah, she's a friend of Rainbow Dash's. I saw the two of them flying around town this morning. They seemed to be having a pretty good time," said Bon Bon. Rarity nodded.

"Alright, thank you darling," said Rarity. Bon Bon nodded and the two parted ways. "So, she's a friend of Rainbow Dash's is she?" said Rarity to herself. "I see. Well maybe she is going to pay for that apple she stole; I shouldn't misjudge her when I hardly know her." Within a few moments though, Rarity saw a sight that guaranteed this griffin a spot in Rarity's basement. The griffin had been walking and had run into Fluttershy who had been leading a family of ducks to safety. That was innocent enough, could have happened to anypony. However, the griffin's reaction was not so nice. Rarity could hear the nasty creature berate Fluttershy from where she stood. Rage boiled inside Rarity as she saw the griffon continue to yell at an increasingly distraught Fluttershy. Rarity wanted to go over and snap that filthy beast's neck right now! However, that would be a tad counter-productive as not only would she be arrested, she would lose all love from Rainbow Dash and she would scar Fluttershy for life. Rarity felt her will to not kill in the open weaken when the griffin let loose a mighty roar of anger at the frightened Pegasus pony.

As Fluttershy ran away in tears, Rarity decided that the spa could wait. She had a basement to prepare.

What was the best way to brutally murder a griffin? That was the question that Rarity found herself asking as she stared silently at her collection of tools. Her tray lay empty beside her as she contemplated how to kill the beastly creature that had hurt Fluttershy so. Each time she reached for a knife, she found herself withdrawing her hoof, second guessing her choice. Pliers might be useful if she decided to pull out her feathers, but would it take pliers to rip them out? Rarity had seen her tail be used to grab things which Rarity knew would be a problem if the griffin realized that she could potentially use it to free herself. But would Rarity want to cut it off right away with the butcher knife or saw through the tail to make the griffin suffer? Rarity gave a groan for frustration. This was going to be harder than she thought. She grabbed the skinning knife and placed it on the tray. After all, how often do griffins come along? The griffin would certainly make it on her wall.

At that moment, Rarity heard the doorbell ring. She gave a frustrated groan. What part of 'closed' do ponies no understand? Rarity walked back up the stairs and answered the door. She was surprised to find a smiling Pinkie Pie on the other side. "Oh, goodness Pinkie, I didn't expect to see you there. How may I help you?" she asked.

"Hello Rarity!" said Pinkie in her usual happy voice. "I was wondering if you knew about Gilda!" Rarity cocked her head.

"Uh, Gilda darling?" she asked.

"Yes, Gilda! She's Rainbow Dash's griffin friend! She's staying in Ponyville for a while and I though that it would be a nice thing to do if we threw a party for her!" said Pinkie happily. Rarity gave Pinkie a smile. That was Pinkie Pie, always welcoming, and always willing to throw a new guest in Ponyville a party. Sometimes Rarity made it a little game to see who could get to a new pony in Ponyville first. It would either be Pinkie and her parties or Rarity and her basement. Much to Rarity's chagrin, Pinkie usually won those competitions which meant that Rarity would refrain from going in for the kill.

"I take it the party is at Sugar Cube Corner?" said Rarity. Pinkie's grin widened.

"Yes indeedy do!" said Pinkie. "This afternoon at 3:00."

"Well I will be sure to be there Pinkie Pie. I would never miss one of your parties," said Rarity.

"Okie dokie loki!" said Pinkie Pie bouncing away happily. "See you at 3:00!"

"See you then darling!" said Rarity. As Rarity shut the door, she realized that she still had a grin on her face. The realization only made the grin bigger. How in Equestria was Pinkie Pie able to so naturally make ponies smile like that?

As she walked back towards her basement, Rarity decided that she would just improvise when it came time to kill Gilda. If there was one thing that she had learned in her time as a serial killer, it was that opportunities presented themselves. Gilda's reactions to her situations might give Rarity ideas of what to do next.

As Rarity thought about how best to get Gilda in her basement, she was struck with an idea. She remembered how she had lost her temper at one of the things that poor Janice had said. Rarity had an idea of how best to avoid a situation like that again and she grabbed the necessary supplies for her idea and went to work on it.

As Rarity put her creation on the wall facing the table where she strapped her victims, she glanced at a clock that was on her wall. It was 2:45! "Oh goodness Rarity, you must pay better attention to the time!" she scolded. She put the final pieces of tape, sticking her creation on the wall and zoomed towards Sugar Cube Corner.

She arrived out of breath and a tad sweaty from the run. The confectionery was packed with the residents of Ponyville, all of them eagerly awaiting the arrival of Gilda. Rarity glanced at the clock. It was 2:59. Rarity breathed a sigh of relief. She had made it just in time! She entered the shop and went over to greet Applejack who wasn't talking to anypony at the moment. "Hello there Applejack! Good to see you here this fine afternoon."

"Hello Rarity," replied the farmer pony with a smile. "I'm glad to be here. I'd never miss a Pinkie Pie party." The two friends walked over to each other and gave each other a greeting hug. It was moments like these where Rarity was glad that she hadn't killed Applejack. Applejack's smile faded away. 'So who's this Gilda I've heard nothing about?" she asked.

"I heard she's an old friend of Rainbow Dash, a griffin! So rare," replied Rarity. Applejack nodded.

"Friend of RD's huh? Well, any friends of hers is a friend of mine I guess," said Applejack. Rarity inwardly grimaced. She wanted to tell Applejack to withhold saying that particular statement until she had actually met the griffin in question, but she held her tongue.

They did not have to wait very long for the guest of honor. Gilda walked in after a few more minutes and was immediately met with a smiling Pinkie Pie, who welcomed her to the party. Rarity observed Gilda's behavior as Pinkie Pie extended a hoof in greeting. Gilda suspiciously took the hoof and was immediately met with a zap of electricity. Rarity smiled. Ah the old hoof buzzer prank. Pinkie Pie had only done it to Rarity once as Rarity had made her Pinkie Promise not to it to her ever again. She wasn't thrilled with the results that the prank had on her mane. She laughed at the successful prank like the rest of the ponies, but still keeping an eye on Gilda.

As the party went on, any thoughts that Rarity had that Gilda did not deserve to be in Rarity's basement faded into oblivion. Somepony, likely Pinkie Pie, had set up various pranks throughout the party and by whatever luck, Gilda had been the one to set them all off. She started by eating lemon drops laced with pepper, something Rarity felt that she should try at some point. Only Rarity would replace the pepper with strychnine or something like that. A dribble glass and spring snakes in a can followed suit. Rarity noticed that Gilda's composure, something Rarity was surprised that the naturally irritable Gilda had in the first place, was slowly eroding as the party went on. Rarity was sure that the re-lighting birthday candles would set her over the edge for sure and that she would completely lose her cool in front of everypony. However, despite manhandling Pinkie Pie and threatening her, she did not blow her fuse. Would this be an indication of what Gilda would be like on her table?

Before Rarity could dwell on the matter more, Applejack called the attention of everypony there. "Hey y'all, it's pin the tail on the pony! Let's play!" said Applejack happily. Rarity smiled in delight at the idea. She loved this game. However, she wondered what would happen if she tried to put herself in front of Gilda. Would the irritable griffin let her go first? She doubted it.

"Oh my favorite game!" said Rarity. "Can I go first? Can I have the purple tail?" To Rarity's complete lack of surprise, the second she reached for the tail, the greedy griffin snatched it out from under her.

"Well I'm the guest of honor, and I'll have the purple tail!" said Gilda snidely. Rarity shot her a glare that would have killed Gilda on the spot...if looks could kill that is.

Spike tied the blindfold over Gilda's eyes and Pinkie Pie spun her around. Rarity was confused to see that despite the fact that Pinkie led Gilda towards the poster, Gilda instead ignored Pinkie and walked in the opposite direction. It was just Gilda being cruel to Pinkie Pie as usual. However, this did not have the intended effect. True, Gilda would have run into a wall eventually, but she actually managed to slip on a clump of frosting on the floor and she slid right into the kitchen with a loud crash.

Silence filled the room as everypony looked on in shock at the collision. Gilda came out of the kitchen, no worse for wear, but with the pony tail draped over her beak. "Uh, Gilda, you pinned the tail on the wrong end," said Pinkie Pie. The room began laughing at the ridiculous looking griffin. As the room continued to laugh, Rarity saw the last shred of self-control dissolve into anger and she watched with a smile as Gilda let out a furious roar.

The furious griffin began berating everypony in the room but Rarity paid no heed to her words, despite the mask of shock that she had put on her face. She was lost in thought as she realized that she had not figured out how she was going to get Gilda in her basement. Drugging her outside of the bakery wouldn't work as she wasn't quite sure how much she would need. Plus, how would she inject her? She needed to figure out some way to lure Gilda to the boutique but what would Gilda want there? Then the idea struck her: revenge. Rarity smiled to herself and rejoined reality just in time to see Gilda storm angrily out of Sugar Cube Corner. It was time. Or at least, it would soon be time. It would be a tad suspicious if Rarity left immediately after Gilda did. She would have to bide her time for a few minutes, but not so long that she wouldn't be able to find Gilda.

After another ten minutes at the party, which began with a round of apologies, Rarity decided that she had better get on with it. She walked up to Pinkie Pie who was drinking punch and eating large slices of cake. "Hello there Pinkie Pie," greeted Rarity. Pinkie swallowed the piece of cake in her mouth and smiled at Rarity.

"Hey there Rarity, are you having a wonderful, super-duper fun time?" she asked happily.

"I am indeed Pinkie, you always throw the best parties. However, I have some work to do at my shop and I'm afraid that I must leave," Pinkie nodded a bit sadly.

"Okay, I suppose I'll see you later then."

"Before I go then, I really enjoyed the hoof buzzer trick you played on Gilda. Do you mind if I borrow that? I think it would be a great prank to pull sometime," said Rarity. Pinkie perked up again.

"Of course you can Rarity!" said Pinkie, handing the hoof buzzer to Rarity.

"Thank you Pinkie. I'm sure I'll find a good use for this. Have a wonderful evening Pinkie Pie," said Rarity. Pinkie nodded happily and Rarity left Sugar Cube Corner to go find Gilda.

As luck would have it, Rarity found Gilda in the exact spot that she expected to find her. Gilda had gone back to Rainbow Dash's house to collect some of her things before she left Ponyville for good. When Rarity saw Gilda fly out, she called to her. "Yoo hoo, Gilda! Might I have a word with you please?" Rarity saw Gilda roll her eyes but she flew down to talk to Rarity nonetheless.

"What do you want dweeb, I wanna get out of here!" said Gilda irritable. Rarity had to work at maintaining her smile.

"Well, I thought that what Pinkie Pie did to you at that party was simply dreadful. I know that she claimed to be throwing that party innocently, but you had her pegged right. Take it from somepony who has lived here all her life and knows everypony around here." Rarity hated lying about her good friend like that, but all would be corrected soon. Hearing this news, Gilda raised an eyebrow in interest.

"I knew that she was just trying to get under my feathers! Nobody is that mindless." Gilda leered at Rarity. "Why are you telling me this anyway?" she asked suspiciously. Rarity gave a small laugh.

"Well, I heard that you enjoy a good prank and as it just so happens, I like a good prank myself. What would you say to me helping you get a little revenge on Pinkie Pie and indeed, anypony you wanted to around here?" Gilda grinned evilly at this suggestion.

"Heck yeah!" she said, flying into the air excitedly. "Sign me up!" she flew down next to Rarity and jumped up and down excitedly. 'What are we gonna do?" Rarity gave a satisfied grin. This was going to be easier than she thought.

"Well first off, let us go back to my home where we can discuss out plans. I was quite the prankster back in my teenage years and I have some wonderful things in my basement, very elaborate stuff. None of this childish hoof buzzer or dribble glass nonsense."

"Lead the way!" said Gilda excitedly.

"However, we must be careful not to be seen going into my house!" cautioned Rarity. "If the ponies of this town saw the two of us together, then it wouldn't be difficult for them to figure out that it was us pulling the pranks." Gilda nodded.

"Makes sense to me," she said. "Alright, let's get this party started!"

The two snuck quietly back to Rarity's house. Luckily, most of the ponies in Ponyville were still at Pinkie's party and thus, the streets were fairly quiet. Their journey to Rarity's house was uneventful.

When they reached her house, they snuck inside and Rarity led Gilda into her basement. "Nice touch with that secret piano password dude." said Gilda.

"Why thank you Gilda." said Rarity as the two walked down the stairs. Gilda sniffed the air as they neared the bottom of the steps.

"What the heck is that smell?" she asked.

"Oh, my basement burst a pipe a few weeks back. I'm afraid the smell hasn't quite gone away yet," said Rarity. She of course, had long gotten used to the smell of decaying pony parts but she always made sure that it wasn't bad enough that it wafted up to the main part of the building.

The duo reached the bottom of the stairs and entered the basement. Gilda's eyes widened when she saw the horrors in front of her. She slowly began backing away. Rarity held up a hoof to stop her. "Don't you worry darling. None of this is real! This is just one of my more elaborate pranks. If we decide to go with this one, we'll put on masks so Pinkie doesn't know that it is us and we'll make her think that she's about to be killed!' said Rarity happily. Gilda still wasn't completely convinced.

"Uh...yeah, maybe this one is a bit too extreme. I mean come on, we don't want to scare her too badly," said a visibly nervous Gilda. Rarity sighed and levitated the small syringes over to her.

"Well that's a problem because I'm afraid that I do want to scare you that badly," said Rarity. Before a confused Gilda could respond, Rarity stuck two syringes in Gilda's neck. Gilda gave a yelp of shock and rather than fight Rarity, she began running back up the stairs, trying to escape. Rarity walked after her. Gilda's movements became slower as the drug took effect and she soon collapsed on the stairs, still slowly trying to crawl away to freedom. Rarity responded to this with a third injection which had the desired effect. Gilda stopped moving and lay unconscious on the stairs. Rarity gave a satisfied nod and with a great deal of effort, she strapped Gilda to the table and moved the table into the vertical position.

Rarity had nothing else to do right now other than sit at her workbench and wait for Gilda to wake up. Rarity mused that Gilda being a griffin had a large set of problems with it. How good was her tail and acting as a hand for Gilda? It certainly had the ability to pick things up, but could it untie her? For that matter, Rarity hadn't realized that Gilda's sharp claws could easily slice through the straps holding her down. Rarity sighed as she picked up her boning knife. Those would have to come off before Gilda woke up. When was she going to get those metal cuffs she had been meaning to find for a while now?

She approached the sleeping Gilda and flattened her claws against the table. She remembered how when she had smashed off Annie's horn with a rock how Annie had woken up from the pain immediately and she hoped that Gilda wouldn't do the same thing. She had to risk it though. If Gilda woke up and got out...Rarity didn't even want to think about that.

She held down Gilda's claws with one of her hooves and holding the knife with her magic, she sliced open one of Gilda's fingers and began cutting the bone underneath. She glanced at Gilda's unconscious form. No movement so far, but Rarity had seven more claws after this.

After a few seconds, Rarity figured that the bone underneath Gilda's finger was weak enough and she grabbed the claw in her teeth and pulled on it. With a snap the claw broke off of the bone. Rarity stumbled back a bit from the force of the pull, but regained her balance. Putting the severed claw in a nearby bucket, she got to work de-clawing the unconscious griffin.

Within fifteen minutes, the eight severed claws lay in a bucket at Rarity's hooves. Rarity was irritated that there was still no movement from Gilda. Didn't she know that it was rude to keep a lady waiting? As long as she waited though, she might as well cauterize the wounds she had left. She didn't want Gilda to bleed any more than she had to before Rarity really got the party going, so to speak. Rarity went back upstairs and got the iron that she used to iron out her clothes. Returning to the basement to see that Gilda was still unconscious, she plugged in her iron. She gave it a few seconds to get hot before she cauterized the bleeding stumps. As she brought the iron down on the stumps, she felt a satisfying hiss as the iron burned the wounds shut.

When she returned to the basement after replacing the iron, she saw that Gilda was finally beginning to wake up. After only a few more seconds, which Rarity used to administer a painkiller of her own design to dull the pain in Gilda's claws and nowhere else, Gilda woke up. "It is so nice of you to finally join me in the world of the awake darling. I'm sorry if I didn't quite get the dosage right on the drug I gave you, but I've never actually had to drug a griffin before." Gilda didn't respond, she was too busy looking around in horror. All doubt that the pelts and manes that adorned Rarity's walls were fakes were gone. As she looked around, her eyes landed on a giant poster on the wall in front of her.

"Uh, what's that?" she asked confusedly. Rarity's eyes glowed with pride.

"Do you like it? I just made it today." Said Rarity happily. "You see, I have been doing this for years now and every time I get somepony saying some foolish statement or other and I finally decided that I had enough of it. I actually lost my temper at the poor darling who was in here yesterday when she said one of these things. So, I decided to make a poster for my victims to see so they would know what to not say while they're down here." Gilda's eyes strained briefly to read the poster. Rarity smiled, Gilda still had not noticed her mutilated claws.

"Don't ever say 'Let me go and I won't tell anyone', 'you don't have to do this', 'please stop', 'let me go', 'if you let me go I'll...'" Gilda stopped reading it aloud and scanned the rest of it silently. When she finished, she looked at Rarity confusedly. "Uh...okay." she said. "What now then?" Rarity smiled.

"I'm so glad you asked! Now I get to rip you part piece by piece until your dead at which point I will use your feathers in my dresses somehow, use your lower half to decorate my wall, same with your beak I think. I'm not quite sure what to do with your claws yet. Do you think I should make them into a necklace to wear when I am down here with a victim?" Gilda gave Rarity a horrified look before glancing at her claws. When she saw that only mutilated stumps remained, she gave a shriek of terror and started violently thrashing, trying to escape.

"You stupid jerk!" screeched Gilda, "What did you do to my claws!?" Rarity raised her eyebrow and cocked her head.

"Isn't that obvious darling? I took my boning knife and I removed them so you wouldn't shred the straps holding you down and escape. Honestly, you must think these silly questions through before you ask them; otherwise you'll just waste my time." Gilda continued to thrash about in a rather undignified manner. "Alright Gilda, I must ask you to please stop this silly display, you really look quite foolish." said Rarity calmly.

"Get me out of these straps you stupid horse!" screeched Gilda.

"I'm not a horse darling, I'm a pony. Now please stop thrashing about, you look ridiculous."

"Get me out of here!" yelled Gilda.

"Now Gilda darling, I know that that phrase isn't written exactly on the poster, but it is pretty close to 'let me go'. However, you didn't see it there so I will give you a free pass on saying this once." said Rarity.

"Let me go!" said Gilda angrily. Rarity frowned at her.

"Now darling, you read the poster and you know that I don't want you saying things like that. Now, I'm going to count to three and if you don't stop thrashing about like a fool, I am going to cut off your tail with garden shears. If you do stop thrashing I will leave it alone for now." Gilda ignored Rarity who sighed and retrieved the garden shears from her workbench. She walked back over to a thrashing Gilda. She used her magic to straighten Gilda's tail and she placed it between the blades of the gardening shears. "One...two...three." Seeing that Gilda had not stopped thrashing about, Rarity merely shrugged and quickly brought the handles of the shears together, snapping the blades back to their normal position and neatly severing Gilda's tail. Gilda's eyes widened and she let out a bloodcurdling scream. She stopped moving around though which was a plus.

To Rarity's surprise, Gilda managed to regain her composure after a few more seconds. "Are you finished thrashing about like a madpony? All that thrashing and the straps didn't even budge. And now look at your tail!" said Rarity who used her magic to dangle the severed tail in front of Gilda's face. Gilda stared at it in shock and Rarity threw it aside.

"You're insane," said Gilda shakily. Rarity just rolled her eyes.

"That might be another one that I put on the poster. While my actions might seem objectively insane to you, I assure you that I am very, very, very sane. An insane pony would merely hack you up for the fun of it, I do it to protect the ones I love. I'm not insane Gilda, I just have no empathy that's all," she said simply.

Rarity walked over to her workbench and picked up the hoof buzzer that she had borrowed from Pinkie Pie earlier that day. Walking back over to Gilda, she dangled the contraption in front of her. 'Remember this Gilda? You seemed to really get quite the shock from it." said Rarity. "Now I know that this doesn't have the voltage to do any serious damage, but I imagine that if it is placed in the right spot, it would really hurt don't you think?" Gilda began shaking in fear.

"Like where?" she asked nervously.

"Well, I was thinking that I should wait until I can press it against exposed muscles or organs and I still might do that, but for now, I think we'll start with your eyes if that's okay with you." Gilda immediately shut her eyes tightly.

"No that is not okay with me, why would you ask that!?"

"Well, formalities I guess. I'm going to do it whether you want me to or not so you might as well just accept it. Now, which eye do you think, right or left? I'm only going to do one right now as I want you to see what is going on." Gilda didn't answer and kept her eyes shut tight. Rarity rolled her eyes and used her magic to turn Gilda's head towards her and force her eyes open. "I think I'll do the right one," she said. Gilda could only watch in horror as Rarity brought the hoof buzzer closer and closer to Gilda's right eye. "Now stay very still Gilda because this is really going to hurt." At that moment, Rarity pushed the button on the hoof buzzer into Gilda's right eye. Gilda immediately began contorting in pain and based on the vibrations Rarity felt through the buzzer, the hoof buzzer was really in top form. She must remember to thank Pinkie Pie when she returned it.

Gilda continued to convulse in pain until Rarity decided that she had had enough and withdrew the buzzer. She gave a grunt of disgust when she saw what the buzzer did to Gilda's eye. Aside from the fact that the button had crushed it a little, the eye was dripping fluid and looked all black and burnt from the shock. Gilda was hyperventilating and tears of pain were falling from her one good eye.

"Gracious, I didn't expect it to do that. Well, we'll just have to see what it does to your exposed organs now won't we?" she said.

"Go to Tartarus," growled Gilda. Rarity gave a small giggle at this.

"Oh I've been doomed to go there ever since my first murders at age eight. You'll get your wish someday. Maybe I'll see you there!" said Rarity excitedly. Gilda continued crying from the pain and turned her head away from Rarity. Rarity shrugged. "Alright then, let's see how easily your feathers come out shall we? I'm pretty sure that they can be removed with a simple tug but if not, I have pliers that I can use if we need them. We'll start with your stomach since that's the spot I want to cut open next." As Rarity leaned in to start pulling out feathers, she moved her right front hoof to the right a bit to adjust her balance and slipped on the pool of blood that had formed thanks to Gilda's severed tail. She stumbled around for a few seconds before regaining her balance. "Oh, clumsy me, I really must be more careful so I can avoid slipping on your blood."

Rarity noticed that some of the blood was getting on Gilda's severed tail and staining it red. She picked it up an examined it before giggling. "What's so funny?" Gilda asked weakly.

"Remember earlier today when we were playing 'Pin the Tail on the Pony' and you wanted the purple tail just so I couldn't have it? Well now we're playing 'Take the Tail off the Griffin' and I have the red tail just so you can't have it!" Rarity laughed uproariously at her joke but stopped after a few seconds when she saw that Gilda was looking at her with shock and confusion. Rarity controlled her laughter before clearing her throat and giving an embarrassed grin. "Yes, you're quite right, that wasn't one of my better...jokes." she said.

Shrugging, Rarity leaned in and grabbed one of Gilda's feathers in her mouth and tugged. With a small snap, the feather came right out. Rarity placed it in the bucked where she had deposited Gilda's claws. "That was rather easy wasn't it Gilda? Did it hurt?" Gilda didn't respond. With another shrug, Rarity got back to work pulling out Gilda's feathers.

She worked in silence for a while, with Gilda occasionally giving a grunt of pain when Rarity pulled out a particularly stubborn feather, but aside from those moments, pulling out Gilda's feathers was rather uneventful.

Soon Rarity had pulled out enough feathers to reveal a nice open spot to cut her open. She caressed the pink skin to see how difficult it would be to slice open. Not difficult at all. Rarity went over to her workbench and pulled out a skinning knife. She came back over to Gilda who was still looking away from Rarity with her eyes shut tightly. Rarity paid this display of defiance no heed and ran the knife over the exposed pink skin. Blood instantly poured from the wound as Rarity began to cut deeper. She felt the knife slice against Gilda's ribcage and moved her knife over and began cutting vertically from the right edge of the original incision. Once she felt that she had gone down far enough, she repeated the process on the other side, slicing Gilda open until she hit bone. Once she was finished, Rarity put the knife down on the tray and leaned in and grabbed the top flap in the cut that she had made. Rarity grasped the flap firmly in her teeth, and ignoring the foul taste of blood in her mouth, she pulled as hard as she could. The force of the pull tore any stray straps of skin loose and revealed Gilda's inner organs. It was a marvelous sight to behold. Gilda's organs were larger that the organs of the average pony. Rarity saw that during her cutting, she had accidentally sliced Gilda's small intestine slightly and it was oozing a thick, white fluid.

"Gilda darling, you must take a look at this! Haven't you always been curious about what you look like on the inside?" Gilda's eyes remained shut tight but she was weeping from the pain. Rarity rolled her eyes. "Now really, I got to all of this trouble to slice you open and you can't even take a little peek at what I am doing to you? For shame!" Rarity once again used her magic to force Gilda's eyes open and she moved her head down and forced her to stare at her exposed organs. The sight of her sliced open body made Gilda scream in terror. Rarity gave a satisfied smile at Gilda's terror. She wondered if Janice would have done this if she had seen her exposed organs like this. No matter, she couldn't dwell on past victims right now.

Picking up the buzzer again, she looked at Gilda. "Now, which of your organs should I use this on? Should I start with your stomach? Maybe I could do it to your small intestine seeing as how I've already made a small cut there? I think it would really hurt if I put it right on the cut in your small intestine don't you?" Gilda began taking labored breaths. She was going into shock. Rarity simply shrugged and slammed the hoof buzzer down on Gilda's sliced open small intestine. Gilda convulsed in pain more, but her movements were clunkier, almost as if it was a reflex as opposed to an attempt to react to the pain. Gilda really had gone into shock and while Rarity knew that she still felt it, it wasn't the same. Putting the buzzer down, she held Gilda's head in her hooves. Gilda was still convulsing, but her expression was completely blank.

Rarity knew that she didn't have any means to bring Gilda out of her shock so she was stuck between a rock and a hard place right now. She wanted Gilda to be conscious and thinking for the final moments, but she didn't know how to bring her out of her shocked state. She could just wait, but Gilda would likely bleed out in less than 20 minutes, which would really put a damper on her plans. She decided to wait for five minutes to see if Gilda would come out of shock and if she didn't then Rarity would give up and tear out her throat. If she did, then Rarity could continue as planned. Next time though, she had to find a way to keep her victims going. She was surprised that she hadn't already as this was far from the first time that this had happened. Oh well, no use crying over spilled cider.

As the minutes ticked on, the pool of blood forming on the floor was getting steadily larger and Gilda's convulsing was stopping. Rarity cocked her head and checked Gilda's pulse. She was alive, but only had a few minutes of life left at best, no matter what Rarity was going to do. She gave a frustrated yell. This wasn't how things were supposed to go! "Gilda, wake up!" screeched Rarity. Gilda merely began breathing weakly. Rarity knew that she would not be as observant as she was before. She only had a few minutes left. Rarity grabbed her hammer from her workbench and began breaking Gilda's ribs off, one by one and putting them in her bucket. Gilda hardly noticed her ribs being snapped off, something that irritated Rarity to no end.

Eventually, her ribs were all removed; exposing Gilda's slowly beating heart and laboring lungs. Picking up the knife she used to slice Gilda open, she leaned in close to Gilda's open chest and began cutting out her lungs. Gilda's eyes widened and her breathing became faster, but it stopped altogether once Rarity gave a tug, removing Gilda's left lung. Gilda slowly began suffocating. The right lung followed shortly, and Gilda began convulsing weakly from the lack of air. Rarity decided that she wasn't quite finished, and she slowly began cutting out Gilda's heart. After a few seconds of this though, Gilda stopped moving entirely and Rarity knew why. Gilda was dead.

Rarity stopped cutting out the dead griffin's heart and placed the knife back on her tray. She washed up and then began trekking back upstairs to her room. She had been to a Pinkie Pie party and had executed a murder all in one day. Cleanup could wait for a while. She had a long nap to take.


	8. Trixie

Ah, soon her creation would have life! Life! Rarity had worked on it tirelessly for months and now, it was about to be finished! Just a few more final stitches. Oh, it was coming along nicely now! Rarity was on a roll here, she was making the perfect dress! Ponies would come from all over Equestria to see this dress, they would clamor for one of their own, and they would...at that moment there came a knock on the door. Rarity's eyes narrowed. "WHO DARES TO DISTURB ME WHEN I AM CREATING A MASTERPIECE OF MODERN FASHION!" screamed Rarity in anger. Silence fell over the room as Rarity gained control of her anger. However, just as she did, the knock came again. Giving a frustrated groan, she stormed over to her door and opened it.

Standing on the other side of the door were the two most beastly colts in Equestria: Snips and Snails. Oh, they should be thankful that they were not classmates with Rarity or else she would have left their sliced up corpses for the timber wolves to feast on. She silently rued the day when she Pinkie Swore to herself to never kill foals. Once they hit 16 though...

Trying her best to both not kill them where they stood or lose her temper, she forced a grin on her face. "Oh, it's you two. How may I help you?"

"There's a new unicorn show in town! We were told by her to go gather ponies to see her show!" said Snails. Rarity found it more difficult to maintain her grin.

"Oh, you don't say. Well, I suppose I should have to go see this new show then. Uh, thank you for letting me know. Goodbye!" she said, slamming the door in their faces. Rarity shuddered. The mere presence of those two colts made Rarity feel dirty.

Rarity finally managed to finish up her dress. It was a masterpiece and she knew that ponies would just adore it. To her surprise though, the thought of this traveling unicorn performer was stuck in her head. Ponies that were constantly on the move were easy prey for Rarity as they were often overlooked by most. She mused that she had not had a kill since Gilda a few months ago. Rarity shrugged, might as well see if she couldn't get this one in her basement.

She trotted over to her door and exited her shop. Locking it behind her, she followed an increasingly large crowd of ponies to what appeared to be a trailer of some sort in the town square. It was a simple little trailer. It was completely normal aside from the garish flag that hung from the door.

Spotting her friends, sans Twilight, she walked over to them. "Hello there Applejack, Rainbow, how are you this fine evening?" she asked. Applejack shrugged.

"Alright I guess, just standin' here, waitin' for this here show to start. I was about to pack up and go home for the day when this crowd and wagon showed up. I like traveling shows like this. I hope this one's good," said Applejack.

"Yeah, I expect some good stuff out of this," said Rainbow Dash. "Since all unicorns can do magic on some level, this one must be pretty good if she got her own show going." Rarity nodded and at that moment, she heard the most obnoxious, self-centered, boastful voice that she had ever heard in her life.

"Come one, come all! Come and witness the amazing magic of The Great and Powerful Trixie!" said the voice. At that name, the trailer began to morph into a stage, complete with a garish backdrop. Once the transformation was complete, a blue unicorn female appeared on the stage, sporting the most unbecoming grin. She was wearing a purple hat and cape with multicolored star patterns on them. Rarity's jaw dropped slightly at the sight of her. She could have created a better design using nothing but the skins in her basement...in her sleep...drunk...with one eye.

"Watch as The Great and Powerful Trixie performs the most spectacular feats of magic ever seen by pony eyes!" said Trixie, causing more sparks and fireworks to appear behind her. She was really beginning to annoy Rarity.

"My, my my, what boasting," said Rarity.

"Come on," said Spike beside her. "Nopony is as magical as Twi..." He suddenly stopped speaking. Rarity looked at him with a raised eyebrow, intending to ask what was wrong. Before she could though, Spike stuttered out more of his sentence. "Twi...Twi...oh!...h-hey Rarity, I...mustache!" he said before zooming away. Rarity looked at the retreating form of the baby dragon with confusion. What was that all about? Twilight walked up to Rarity and Applejack. She seemed nervous for whatever reason.

"There's nothing wrong with being talented is there?" she asked.

"Nothin' at all," said Applejack. "'ceptin' when someone goes around showin' it off like a school filly with fancy new ribbons," she said, glaring at Trixie who was conjuring flowers.

"Just because one has the ability to perform lots of magic does not make one better than the rest of us," said Rarity. Rainbow Dash gave a confident smile at this.

"Especially when you have me around being better than the rest of us," she said smugly, prompting a glare from Applejack which seemed to reign in the Pegasus' ego. "Uh...I mean...yeah, uh, magic schmagic! BOO!" said Rainbow. Applejack did not seem mollified at this, but the response from Trixie was more important right now. Trixie glared at the group.

"Well, well, well. It seems we have some ne-e-eigh-sayers in the audience. Who is so ignorant as to challenge The Great and Powerful Trixie!?" she said. "Do they not know that they are in the presence of the most powerful unicorn in all of Equestria?" Rarity merely gave Trixie a bored stare and shook her head. Each boast merely did more to solidify the need to kill this jerk in Rarity's mind.

"Just who does she think she is?" said Rarity to Twilight, prompting more desperate remarks from Spike.

The others continued to argue amongst themselves, with occasional snide remarks from Trixie, about what should be done about her. Rarity already knew full well what to do with her, but that would have to come later. She couldn't exactly put a knife between her eyes right now could she? Besides, that would be so boring...

Rarity observed her behavior as both Applejack and Rainbow Dash went up to challenge Trixie. Rarity knew that both would fail at taking the obnoxious unicorn down a peg. It wasn't as though Trixie would really fight fair anyway.

After Rainbow Dash was sent spinning around like a top, Spike, Applejack and Rainbow Dash began making subtle hints that Rarity should be the next one to challenge her. How petty of them.

"What we need is another unicorn to challenge her. Someone with magic of her own," said Spike, nudging Twilight. Rarity rolled her eyes. She wouldn't fall for this nonsense.

"Yeah! A unicorn to show this unicorn who's boss!" said Rainbow. Rarity fought to keep her composure.

"A real unicorn-to-unicorn tussle!" said Applejack. Rarity had had enough of this nonsense.

"Enough, enough all of you!" she chided. "I take your hint but Rarity is above such nonsense. Rainbow Dash and Applejack may behave like ruffians, but Rarity conducts herself with beauty and grace." Trixie gave Rarity an evil grin.

"What's the matter? Afraid you'll get a hair out of place in that rat's nest you call a mane?" said Trixie. Rarity didn't even try to control her anger. This bully had to be taken down a peg even before Rarity dissected her later.

"Oh, It. Is. On!" she said angrily. Rarity walked up on stage and began lecturing this ruffian on the proper way to be a unicorn. "You may think you are tough with all of your so-called 'powers', but there is more to magic than your brutish ways. A unicorn needs to be more than just muscle." Rarity used her magic to bring Trixie's curtain towards her. She half wished that she had verbalized her thoughts to Trixie that she could create a better outfit while asleep and drunk, but a demonstration would have to do for now.

Within seconds, Rarity had made the most delightful and fashionable gown out of the curtain. The ponies in the crowd oohed in awe of Rarity's skills. "A unicorn is not a unicorn without grace and beauty," said Rarity, striking a pose that accented her dress the best. At that moment however, Rarity felt her hair being enveloped in a bright glow. Something was wrong with her hair. Something was very, very, very, wrong. Rarity began to panic. "QUICK! I NEED A MIRROR! GET ME A MIRROR!" screeched Rarity. "What did she do to my hair? I know she did something terrible to my hair!" Her friend's uneasy smiles did nothing to sooth her fears.

"Nothing," said Twilight.

"It's fine," said Rainbow Dash

"It's gorgeous," said Applejack.

"It's green," said Spike bluntly. Green hair! That monster had turned her hair green! She looked up at it and not only had she turned it green, but she had made it look like a rat's nest! Oh, Rarity would make sure that Trixie suffered like none of her victims had ever suffered before.

"No! Not green hair! Such an awful, awful color!" she said as she ran away.

Rarity didn't know what to do now. She had turned her mane back to normal with a simple spell, but after her third hour of scrubbing it, she still didn't feel as if it was clean. Trixie had to die; there was no doubt in Rarity's mind that Trixie would die before the night was over. Tears fell from her eyes as she remembered what her mane had looked like after Trixie hat used her magic on it. She could endure her mane being soaked in blood. It came with her work, but that...that was crossing the line big time.

As she contemplated her next move, she heard a large roar coming from outside. It was not a roar from an animal that Rarity was familiar with, so she exited her shop to see a crowd of confused ponies walking directly towards the strange roar, Applejack and Rainbow Dash among them.

The crowd arrived in the town square just in time to her what Rarity had suspected all along. "I can't! No one can vanquish an Ursa Major, I just made the whole thing up to make me look good!" said Trixie. Rarity gave a satisfied smile. So, Trixie wasn't so 'Great and Powerful' after all.

Before Rarity could question what brought about the confession, she saw a truly terrifying sight: a giant, transparent, starry blue bear-like creature appeared behind a house, standing on its hind legs. Rarity had never seen a creature so massive! Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked just as worried as Rarity herself was. Maybe this creature would take care of her Trixie problem for her...on the other hoof, maybe it would obliterate the town with it.

Before she could contemplate her imminent destruction, Rarity saw Twilight walking directly in front of the Ursa Major, almost as if she was going to...no, she couldn't possibly...even the Element of Magic couldn't do that! The proof was in the pudding...or magic Rarity supposed, when Twilight's horn began glowing brighter than Rarity had ever seen it glow.

As Twilight continued casting spells, Rarity heard the most soothing music which made the Ursa rock back and forth sleepily. Against all odds, Twilight was doing it! She was vanquishing the Ursa!

If Rarity was impressed with Twilight's performance thus far, it was nothing compared to the shock of what Twilight did next. She actually used her magic to lift up the Ursa and place a gigantic water barrel into its paws before levitating it back to wherever in the forest it had come from.

Rarity and her friends looked on at Twilight in awe. A cheer began to form in the crowd and Rarity eagerly joined in, happy to know that she wasn't about to be destroyed. "Heavens to Betsy!" said Applejack in an impressed tone. "We knew you had ability, but not that much!" To Rarity's surprise, Twilight looked at her friends fearfully.

"I'm so sorry, please don't hate me!" she said.

"Hate you?" said Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack confusedly.

"Why, whatever do you mean, darling?" asked Rarity.

"Well...I know how much you all hated Trixie's showing off with her magic tricks and I thought-" before Twilight could finish, Rainbow stopped her silly remark in its tracks.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, magic's got nothing to do with it. Trixie's just a loudmouth," she said.

"Most unpleasant." agreed Rarity.

"All hat and no cattle," said Applejack. Twilight looked slightly less scared.

"So, you don't mind my magic tricks?" she asked. Applejack gave her a warm smile.

"Your magic is a part of who you are sugar cube, and we like who you are. We're proud to have such a talented unicorn as our friend."

"And after whuppin' that Ursa's hindquarters, we're even prouder!" said Rainbow Dash. Rarity and Applejack gave grunts of agreement.

Good, Twilight was happy. Rarity tuned out of the conversation and looked around the crowd for Trixie. After a few seconds, she heard Trixie speak up. Target acquired, she wouldn't be getting away. Rarity's eyes were trained on Trixie. If she could just...no! Trixie had vanished in a puff of smoke! Rarity looked around wildly for her and saw her running down the path out of Ponyville! She mumbled something to Applejack about needing to get back to her shop which prompted a nod from Applejack.

Rarity bolted away from the crowd and towards Trixie. She had to catch up with her, she just had to! She had not only hurt her, but also her friends!

As she continued running, she heard crying coming from some bushes not far away. She trotted up to the bushes and looked behind them. It was Trixie. Her hat was crooked on her head and she was sobbing into her forelegs. Rarity cautiously approached her. Trixie bolted up when she heard somepony walking behind her. Wheeling around, she came face to face with Rarity. She shrank back at the sight of the fashion-loving unicorn.

"What do you want?" she asked accusingly. "Have you come to make fun of Trixie? Make her even more miserable?" Rarity inwardly rolled her eyes; even now she was still boastfully referring to herself in the third person. Rarity had to briefly muse about how to get Trixie to her basement.

"No darling, I haven't. I think the way that they treated you back there was just ghastly," said Rarity sympathetically. Trixie cocked her head and a confused look spread over her face.

"You...you aren't here to make fun of Trixie?" she asked.

"Of course not! I'm here to offer you some help if you need it.

"Even after I ruined your hair?"

"Oh darling, I overreacted to that. It just took a simple spell to turn it back to normal, no real harm done there." Trixie nodded glumly. Rarity put a comforting hoof on her shoulder. "I know that your trailer was smashed in the Ursa attack, I saw the remains. Do you have a place to stay for the night?" Fresh tears formed around Trixie's eyes and she shook her head. "Well, you are welcome to stay at my house for the night; I have a guest room that you can use for as long as you need it. We have to be careful to not be seen when we get back into town, you won't get the warmest reception and we want to avoid that." Trixie nodded.

"If I won't be imposing, I would like to have a place to sleep for the night." Rarity smiled warmly at her.

"Well then you are welcome at my house. Come with me, we'll get you settled in for the night." Trixie gave Rarity a small smile.

"Thank you."

The two walked quietly towards Rarity's house, making sure that they were not seen once they arrived in Ponyville. Rarity had become adept at knowing when they were being watched or even glanced at. Thankfully, nopony saw them.

As they entered Carousel Boutique, Rarity led Trixie into the kitchen. "Would you like anything to drink before bed?" she asked. Trixie nodded.

"Just a glass of water is fine." Rarity pored Trixie a glass of water, stopping briefly to put her sleeping drug into it, and handed it to Trixie. Trixie drank it in one gulp and immediately looked drowsy. "Uh, I guess I'm more tired than I thought...where is your guest room? I'm feeling really tired right now." Good, she had stopped talking to herself in third person.

"Oh, it's in the basement darling if you will just follow me." said Rarity sweetly. With some effort, Trixie got up and slowly followed Rarity, becoming more disoriented with each step. Rarity was actually surprised when Trixie managed to get down the stairs without collapsing. "Here we are!" said Rarity happily motioning to the horrors that made up her basement. Trixie's eyes widened in horror.

"I...wha...w...uh..." said Trixie before collapsing on the floor. Rarity smiled at the unconscious form.

"Time to get started," she said happily.

Rarity finished strapping Trixie to her table. The horn, Trixie's horn would need to come off before she woke up. If Trixie's talent was magic...yeah, it would be the best if she didn't have that when she woke up. Rarity grabbed her hammer and with one powerful swing, she snapped off Trixie's horn. Trixie convulsed for a few seconds but did not wake up. Rarity tossed the broken horn into her bucket and sat down to wait for Trixie to wake up.

Blood was already starting to ooze from the severed horn as Trixie slowly started to wake up. She was groggy at first, but she came to full consciousness soon enough. "Ah, so glad to see you're awake darling. I was worried, I don't have all night and the more tired I get, the more disoriented I am. However, we're both wide awake now so we can begin!" said Rarity happily. Trixie looked around in horror at her surroundings.

"What are you going to do to Trixie?" she asked in quiet horror. Rarity rolled her eyes.

"Well first off, if you refer to yourself in the third person once more I am going to cut out your tongue and slice it to pieces in front of you with a paring knife. Is that a good start?" Trixie clamped her mouth shut. "Well, aside from that, let me tell you a bit about what it is that I do down here." said Rarity, motioning to her surroundings. "I bring mean, nasty ponies that hurt me or my friends in some way and I make their last few hours as miserable as possible. If I like their manes or hides, I put them on my wall. Simple enough right? Now, you hurt and embarrassed not only my friends, but me as well," said Rarity. "I don't like ponies that do either." Tears began falling from Trixie's eyes. She scrunched up her eyes and concentrated in an attempt to perform a spell to get her out of this mess. The attempt only made the blood coming out of the stump here her horn used to be flow faster.

Trixie realized that her horn wasn't working when streams of blood began trickling down her face. Her eyes shot open and she looked up to where she thought her horn would be. She began to panic when she didn't see it. "I...wha...WHERE IS MY HORN!?" she screamed. Rarity took Trixie's horn out of the bucket and levitated it in front of her. Trixie stared at the broken off horn in shock.

"Did you really think that I would forget to do this part? I mean, you do have magical talent, I won't deny that. As such, it was my best interests that this had to go as soon as possible," said Rarity. Trixie's eyes widened as she stared at the horn in shock. Suddenly, she let out an ear piercing scream that caused Rarity to drop the horn and cover her ears. She rushed over to Trixie and pressed a knife against her throat. Trixie stopped screaming at the feeling of sharp metal against her throat. "I WOULDN'T DO THAT AGAIN IF I WERE YOU!" yelled Rarity. Trixie regained control and started breathing heavily.

Rarity placed the knife back on her tray and sighed. "I know that you had no way of knowing this darling, but I really hate it when ponies do that. You see, this room is soundproof so you could scream until your throat bled but nopony could hear you. Nopony except ME that is. So, for the sake of my ears, I must ask you to not to that. Okay?" Trixie shut her eyes and nodded.

Rarity walked over to a shopping bag that she had gotten a while ago. "Now, I was going to use this to potentially repaint my bathroom, but decided that now would be a better opportunity to use this." Trixie opened her eyes and looked at Rarity in time to see Rarity pull a bucket of green paint out of the bag. She turned towards Trixie and used her magic to levitate the bucket and pull off the top. "I think green hair is simply horrid, don't you?" she asked with a grin. Trixie's eyes widened and she struggled to get out of the straps but it was no use. Rarity levitated the bucket over Trixie's head. With a giggle of glee, she flipped the bucket over causing the contents to spill over, drenching the hapless ex-unicorn in green paint.

Trixie began to panic again once she felt the pain splash all over her and she started to thrash about. Rarity groaned quietly, she hated it when ponies thrashed about. It was so undignified. "Trixie, I must insist that you calm down, you're getting paint all over the place," said Rarity calmly.

"Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow," whimpered Trixie softly. Rarity raised an eyebrow.

"Ow? It's just paint darling, how does it...oh, I see." Rarity grabbed a washcloth and began cleaning paint out of the stump where Trixie's horn used to be. Trixie's eyes filled with tears of pain as Rarity continued to clean green paint out of the bloody stump.

After a few minutes, Rarity placed a bandage over the hole. "I'm so sorry, I didn't even think about the paint getting into the hole. Do forgive me darling." Trixie shook her head. Rarity frowned. "Well, there really is no point in being polite with you is there?" she asked crossly. "I didn't have to clean the paint out of the horn you know!" Trixie just continued to whimper as tears of pain fell from her eyes. Rarity rolled her eyes. "Well, I suppose we should just get along to the main event shouldn't we?"

Rarity grabbed a large steak knife out of her workbench. She was particularly fond of this knife as she had to order it from Griffonia. Ponies don't eat meat and as such, they didn't have knifes designed for cutting meat. Griffins weren't so picky. Rarity went back over to Trixie and started slicing her open, causing a gasp of pain from Trixie. Rarity stopped cutting. "Oh dear," she said. "I'm afraid that because of the paint I can't cut as smoothly as I want to. Just give me a minute while I clean the incision area out will you?"

Rarity ran upstairs and grabbed a washcloth and filled a bucket with warm water. Going back downstairs, she saw that Trixie was staring blankly at the large cut on her stomach. Rarity dipped the washcloth into the water and began scrubbing the paint off of Trixie. Rarity noted that Trixie had a look of resignation on her face, as if she had accepted that she would die here. Well, she wasn't wrong of course, she most certainly would die here.

As Rarity continued scrubbing, Trixie began talking to her. "I come from Hoofington originally, did you know that?" Rarity shook her head and continued cleaning the paint off. "Five years ago, my father left our family to go on a business trip to Ponyville and he never came home. We searched frantically for him, but we never found him. Eventually the police gave up and told us to get on with our lives so we did. My mother was never the same after that. It was just her taking care of 4 kids all by herself. As the oldest, I had to take care of my younger sisters while my mother was sitting in her room, drunk off of whatever she could get her hooves on. It was very tough." Rarity nodded.

"I can see how that would be the case," she said.

"My father always told me that I was his magical little filly. I was amazing at magic, even at a young age and I saw going to go to Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. Unfortunately, I blew the entrance exam when I couldn't hatch the dragon egg that they put in front of me. I went home a failure. I later found out that the pony that did hatch the egg became Celestia's protege and that just made the sting of failure even more potent. My father was disappointed but he told me that he was still proud of me and that he would never stop loving me. My mother on the other hoof, was visibly disappointed and it came out in the way she interacted with me. I could tell that unlike my father, she actually loved me less because of what I couldn't do." Tears of sorrow now fell from Trixie's eyes. "She kept her verbal abuse to a minimum around my father, but when he disappeared...I don't know, she just kind of snapped. She began hitting me and my sisters, until she discovered alcohol of course. We were sure to never be around her when she was drunk...or sober for that matter."

"So you turned to performing in order to try to make your mother love you again is that it?" asked Rarity. Trixie nodded.

"I thought that if I could become the most powerful unicorn in Equestria, then maybe some of the scars that my father's disappearances left would heal and we could be happy again."

"If your mother was here right now, what would you say to her?" asked Rarity Trixie gave a weak chuckle.

"Help, this crazy unicorn broke off my horn and is about to slice me open." Rarity gave a small grin at this.

"Alright darling, I'm finished now. We can begin," said Rarity, running a hoof over Trixie's clean stomach and chest, searching for any last remains of paint. Finding nothing, she grabbed the knife again and began slicing Trixie open once more, starting from the original incision point. As she sliced, Trixie tensed up and tears of pain fell from her eyes once more. As Rarity continued to cut Trixie open, a question crossed her mind. "What was the purpose of that story darling? Was it meant to inspire sympathy in me so I would let you go?" Trixie gave a few groans of pain before she answered.

"I...I...I don't know...maybe I suppose."

"Hmm, 'maybe you suppose' interesting. Well, I do feel a little sorry for your situation. Are your mother and sisters still in Hoofington?" she asked. Trixie nodded. "Good, I'll be sure to look for them when I go to deliver some dresses next week." Trixie's eyes widened in fear.

"No! Please don't hurt my sisters, they didn't do anything to anypony!" she said desperately. Rarity glanced up from her work.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"Yes! Please don't hurt them!" begged Trixie.

"Well, would they be better off with your drunken, abusive mother or in foster care?" she asked. Trixie began weakly struggling to get out of the straps. Rarity sighed. "Look, if it is any consolation, I don't kill foals. I haven't since I was 11 years old. If the story you told me is true, then they would be better off without her." Trixie didn't respond. "Well, at any rate I'm finished with this part," said Rarity who then tore the flap of skin open revealing Trixie's guts. Trixie almost passed out from the shock and pain of seeing her insides, but Rarity injected a drug of her own design into Trixie's neck. "Come on now, there's no need to pass out."

Trixie's body convulsed from the drug, but she remained awake. Rarity got to work slicing out Trixie's organs. She started by slicing out her appendix and gall bladder. As she was working on cutting out Trixie's liver, Trixie weakly started to say something to Rarity. Rarity stopped cutting and leaned in next to Trixie. "What's that darling?" Trixie took a few labored breaths before speaking again.

"Did...did you kill my father?" she asked weakly. Rarity mused for a second. Five years ago, businesspony stallion...

"I don't know, what did he look like?" she asked.

"Light brown color, barker brown mane, suitcase cutie mark." Rarity scanned her wall and pointed. Trixie looked to where Rarity was pointing. She turned away and began sobbing harder than she had this entire time.

"Is that him?" Rarity asked. Trixie merely nodded. Rarity nodded as she began cutting out Trixie's lungs.

One week after Trixie's death, Rarity was sitting in a bar in Hoofington. The bartender came up to her. "What'll it be?" he asked.

"Oh, just a cranberry juice please," she said, placing a few bits on the counter. A unicorn mare at her left gave her a drunken laugh.

"A *hic* cranberry juice? Lookie here fellas, *hic* this pony here can't take her booze!" Rarity turned to glare at her, but stopped when she saw that this unicorn...looked oddly familiar. She had the came coloration as a certain paint splattered pelt that adorned her wall right next to a light brown one...

The drunken unicorn continued to act in a most unseemly manner. "Hey! You're a unicorn! My daughter Trixie is a unicorn. She calls herself *hic* 'The Great and Powerful Trixie!'" the unicorn frowned. "More like 'The Useless and Abandonment Trixie', that useless slob was supposed to have been home two days ago!" Rarity found new interest in this drunk.

"Trixie you say?" said Rarity sipping her cranberry juice. She began drinking her juice quickly and once she drained the cup, she leaned in close to the bartender. "I think she's had enough, don't you?" she asked. The bartender looked at Trixie's mother and nodded.

"Alright miss, you've had enough. Pay up and get out of here!" Trixie's mother suddenly bolted out of the door without paying. The bartender got up to follow her, but he didn't pursue her beyond the door of the bar. Rarity quickly exited the bar as well and quickly chased after Trixie's mother.

The chase was not a long one and before too long, Trixie's mother went inside her house and slammed the door behind her. Rarity quickly began looking through the windows of the house and was delighted to see Trixie's mother asleep in what Rarity guessed was her room.

Slowly Rarity opened the window from the outside. She quietly climbed in, pulled a knife out of her saddlebag, and slit the sleeping unicorn's throat.


	9. Inter Sanguinem

Cutie marks. That's all Sweetie Belle talked about these days. Where's my cutie mark? Why don't I have a cutie mark!? Was Rarity prepared to deal with that? She didn't think so. Sweetie Belle should stop being so silly!

Rarity sighed as she watched Sweetie Belle leave for some party or another. She really shouldn't be too hard on Sweetie Belle for wanting her cutie mark. After all Rarity herself had been like that at Sweetie Belle's age. Rarity briefly imagined what it would look like if Sweetie Belle had gotten her cutie mark in the way that she wanted, by being like her big sister.

Rarity had a mental picture of that scenario in her mind, her baby sister standing over the slain corpses of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon in a secluded part of the forest, a large rock in her hooves, blood splattered all over her coat. The idea seemed...interesting to Rarity. What if Sweetie Belle did have the urges to kill that she did? Would the two of them kill together? The mental picture in Rarity's mind changed to one of a pony head on a table in her basement. It was Nightmare Night and they were making it into a Jack-O-Lantern. Rarity was helping Sweetie Belle with the eyes. Rarity's hoof would guide Sweetie Belle's as the two carved a new, grim face onto the hapless pony that they had...NO!

Rarity snapped out of her fantasy. She actually had to sit down as the memory of her holding a crying Sweetie Belle, both covered in blood from Rarity's latest kill, came rushing back to her. It was a memory that Rarity had thought that she had repressed, but every time she thought about Sweetie Belle being like her, it came rushing back. She never, EVER wanted Sweetie Belle to be like her. Although, it would be interesting if she was...no, she couldn't be like her...could she?

Rarity shook her head to clear the memory out of her mind and began work on her latest dress design for her latest very important client. Still, no matter how hard she concentrated, she couldn't get the idea of Sweetie Belle being a murderer out of her brain. Rarity didn't know what she would do if she found out that Sweetie Belle had murderous urges.

After a few hours of trying new dress designs, Sweetie Belle came back from her little party. To Rarity's surprise, she heard her talking to two other fillies as well. She recognized one as Applejack's sister Apple Bloom. Rarity gave a smile at how Apple Bloom had saved Applejack's life by merely existing. As the three fillies talked, Rarity realized that she didn't recognize the voice of the third filly in their little group. Frowning, she got up from her work and walked over to her kitchen where the three friends were getting an afternoon snack.

"Hello there, Sweetie Belle. Who are your friends here?" she asked. Sweetie Belle greeted her with a smile.

"Well, I know you already know Apple Bloom sis, but this here's Scootaloo." she said, motioning towards the third filly who gave Rarity a smile. Rarity cocked her head slightly. Scootaloo...Scootaloo...where had she heard the name Scootaloo? As she looked on, she realized that she recognized the look of Scootaloo as well. Where had she...? All of a sudden, it hit her like a brick. Scootaloo had been the filly that she had dropped off at the Ponyville Orphanage! Rarity put on a smile to hide her shock.

"Oh...yes, hello Scootlaloo, how are you?" said Rarity. Scootaloo frowned.

"My name is Scootaloo, just one 'L' in there," she said.

"Oh, yes, of course, my mistake," said Rarity with a false laugh. "I don't believe I've ever met you before. Are you from around here?" she asked.

"I lived in the Ponyville Orphanage for a while. I still go there when I can't find a place to sleep at night or I can't scrounge up some food. Other than that, I live pretty much wherever," she said with a shrug.

"You...you have no parents?" asked Rarity. Scootaloo shook her head.

"Nope, they just dropped me off at the orphanage when I was a tiny filly. Nopony knows where they are." That wasn't entirely true. Rarity knew full well what had happened to Scootaloo's parents. If Scootaloo was still on her own at the age of 16...

'Well, that's just terrible," said Rarity. "You are more than welcome here if you need a place to say." Sweetie Belle's eyes widened in joy at the idea. Sweetie Belle lived here just as often as she did in their parent's house as her parents had gotten jobs as traveling salesponies.

"Yeah! You can live here with us whenever you want!" she said happily. Scootaloo grinned at the idea.

"I'll keep that in mind. The orphanage aint exactly my cup of tea. They don't let me have my scooter with me when I go to bed!" said Scootaloo.

"Oh yes, I can see how that would be frustrating," said Rarity. "Well, uh, it was nice meeting you Scootaloo but I must get back to work. Apple Bloom, be sure to tell your sister 'hi' from me." Apple Bloom nodded.

"Will do Rarity, see ya later!" she said.

Rarity went back to her dress making and began pondering how Scootaloo's life had turned out as a result of her actions. Her life had turned out even worse than she could have imagined. Not only did she not have parents who loved her, anymore or even now, but she was constantly wondering when the next meal was going to be. Had she done the right thing by sparing her life? Sweetie Belle for sure seemed to think so, even if she didn't know it. The two were getting along wonderfully it seemed. She sighed sadly as she continued her work.

A few hours later, Rarity had just finished helping a customer pick out a dress to wear for a fancy party she was going to in Canterlot, when she was that Sweetie Belle's friends had just left. Rarity began work on a new dress when she heard Sweetie Belle mumbling something as she cleaned up the mess she had made in Rarity's kitchen from the snacks her and her friends had eaten. Rarity strained her ears to listen to what she was saying. She couldn't make out all of it but what she did hear was...interesting.

"Stupid Diamond Tiara and...be mean to...gonna get you for that...aloo and Apple Bloom are..." Rarity didn't need to hear all of it to fill in the blanks. Did Sweetie Belle want to hurt Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon!?

When Sweetie Belle finished cleaning up, she walked back up to her room to do her homework or something of that nature. Against her better judgment, Rarity called Sweetie Belle to her as she was walking up the stairs. "Uh, Sweetie Belle, can I talk to you for a few minutes?"

"Sure sis!" said Sweetie Belle happily. Sweetie Belle walked back down the stairs towards Rarity who led her into the kitchen where they sat down at the table. "So sis," said Sweetie Belle with a grin. "What do you want to talk about?" Rarity had no idea where to even begin, but she just felt like she needed to know if Sweetie Belle...

"Uh, Sweetie Belle...I..." how should she begin this? Sweetie Belle cocked her head slightly and raised an eyebrow.

"Are you okay sis?" she asked.

"Do you feel that you can be honest with me? If there was something big in your life that was bothering you, could you tell me about it?"

"Uh, I guess," she said confusedly. "Like what exactly?"

"Like if you maybe had angry feelings towards your bullies at school and you wanted to hurt them." Sweetie Belle raised her eyebrow even more.

"Uh, they make me mad sometimes, but I don't really want to hurt them or anything...well, maybe sometimes if they make me really mad." It was Rarity's turn to raise her eyebrow.

"Really? Like, how would you want to hurt them?" Sweetie Belle flattened her ears.

"Why are you asking me this?" she asked in a quiet, nervous tone.

"I...I heard you mumbling things when you were cleaning up in the kitchen today about how you want to get revenge on them," said Rarity. Sweetie Belle flattened her ears and avoided eye contact with Rarity.

"Oh, you heard that huh?" she asked. Rarity nodded. "I dunno, I just get so mad at them sometimes when they're mean to other ponies." Rarity put a comforting hoof on Sweetie Belle's shoulders.

"It's perfectly natural to feel those things. I know that now that you have two best friends of your own, you want to protect them from that kind of abuse," said Rarity. Sweetie Belle looked up at her.

"I still don't know why you want to talk to me about this," she said.

"Well, I just want to make sure you were okay and that you weren't going to act on these feelings. It's a dark road that it is hard to get away from."

"How do you know?" asked Sweetie Belle questioningly. Rarity froze for a second. This conversation was a bad idea. Sweetie Belle picked up on the nervousness at the question. "I said, how do you know?"

"Well, I had some bullying problems in my youth and I got in a fight on my first day of school and I don't want that to happen to you," said Rarity. Sweetie Belle would have none of it.

"I don't believe you!" she said, a grain of anger appearing in her voice. "What do you mean 'it's a dark road that's hard to get away from'?"

"I...you're too young to know," said Rarity, hoping that Sweetie Belle would accept it as an answer. No such luck.

"Have you hurt other ponies before?" she asked, pressing the issue much further than Rarity wanted her to.

"Well, yes, I got into some fights when I was a filly at school." Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes.

"What are you trying to hide? Mom and Dad said that you never got into fights and that you only had a problem with three bullies once and..." Sweetie Belle's eyes widened with fear. Rarity's heart dropped into her stomach. Did Sweetie Belle just...? "...and they were found torn to shreds in the Everfree Forest a few days after that." A tear formed in Sweetie Belle's eyes as she backed away from Rarity. "Oh." she said simply.

"Sweetie Belle, what's the matter?" asked Rarity, knowing full well what was the matter but refusing to believe it anyway.

"I remember something from when I was just a filly, something I could never figure out. I...I remember you holding me and crying. Blood, I remember there was a lot of blood," said Sweetie Belle, who was now huddled in a corner, shaking in fear. Rarity's eyes widened.

"But you were only a few weeks old! How do you..." Rarity stopped dead in the middle of her sentence. Sweetie Belle looked up at her, tears of fear streaming down her face.

"W-whose blood was it?" she asked quietly. "Please stop lying to me." Rarity didn't know what to do. Sweetie Belle seemed to have already figured it out, and if she could figure it out so easily, then who else would be able to? How much should she tell Sweetie Belle? Even with everything that had happened, Rarity was unprepared for the next question. "Does it have anything to do with your basement?" Rarity's jaw dropped. Sweetie Belle curled up into a ball, trying to make herself as small as possible.

After a few minutes of silence, Rarity gained the courage to speak up. "The memory with me and the blood, how much do you remember?" she asked quietly.

"I...I remember that you seemed very scared, you were covered in blood and you were holding me and saying something. That's all though."

"I still have nightmares about that night." said Rarity quietly. "I was so scared when I saw the blood on you; I thought for a moment that I had hurt you. What I was saying was 'I will never hurt you, do you hear me? Big sister will never hurt you.' That is still true Sweetie Belle. I would never do anything to hurt you."

"Have you...have you ever killed anypony?" she asked. Rarity froze at the question. She didn't know how to answer. The moments of silence told Sweetie Belle all she needed to know. She turned away from Rarity and began openly weeping on the floor.

Rarity didn't know what to do. What could she do? Her filly sister had just figured out that she was a murderer. She didn't know the extent of her murders, but what did that matter right now? Despite her inner warnings about it, something that Rarity really felt that she should listen to one of these days, she blurted out "Please don't tell anypony!" she said desperately. Sweetie Belle shakily moved her hoof over her chest like an 'X' and then placed it over her eye. A Pinkie Promise. Nopony in town had the nerve to break a Pinkie Promise.

Sweetie Belle continued to cry on the floor for another hour. Rarity simply sat back down on the table and watched her cry. Celestia knows what she was thinking and feeling at the moment. Betrayal? Horror? Anger? Sadness? Probably all of them plus a million more. Rarity had no idea what to do.

Finally Sweetie Belle calmed down and sat up off the floor. She wiped the tears from her eyes and turned to face Rarity. "So...what now?" she asked.

"I don't know Sweetie Belle. I just don't know. I said I would never hurt you but...I clearly broke that promise today,"said Rarity sadly. Sweetie Belle nodded.

"Yeah, you did," said Sweetie Belle. After a few more moments of silence, Sweetie Belle said "I want you to show me what's in your basement." Rarity immediately stood up.

"No! I can't let you go into my basement! You would never recover!" she said. Sweetie Belle's eyes widened with horror once again.

"You didn't just kill one pony...you're a serial killer aren't you?" she said. Rarity sighed.

"Yes," she said simply. Lying was useless now, Sweetie Belle already knew the truth anyway. Sweetie Belle got up and ran out of the kitchen. Rarity followed her in time to see Sweetie Belle go into her storage room. Rarity's eyes widened with fear and she ran towards the door. Sweetie Belle bounced up on a chair and began playing the piano. No, this couldn't be happening! She knew how to get into Rarity's basement!

Rarity reached the door in time to see the secret door into her basement open. Sweetie Belle hopped off of the chair she used to reach the piano and bolted down the stairs. Rarity followed after her, only a second behind her. If she could just reach her before she reached the bottom, catch her before she entered into Rarity's world from where there was no coming back, then maybe everything would be okay and they could go back to the way things had been before this terrible conversation!

Sweetie Belle's hoof reached the bottom step and she looked into the main room. Instantly she shrank back into a corner and began to cry in horror. Her eyes were wide with fear and she was taking short, sharp breaths. Rarity reached the bottom of the steps, hoping to shield her sister from a world in which she had no place.

A scream echoed through Carousel Boutique.


	10. Non Sominum

Rarity's eyes snapped open. It had all been a dream. Sweetie Belle had not found out about her secret life. She was still an innocent filly, blissfully unaware of who her sister really was...so why was she still screaming?

She looked at her surroundings. She was still standing on the basement stairs, Sweetie Belle was still looking into her basement in horror at what she was seeing. She was still screaming. WHY WOULDN'T SHE STOP SCREAMING!? Rarity wondered whether or not she would ever get the sounds of the screams out of her brain. Rarity closed her eyes, wishing it would all be over.

Rarity's eyes snapped open. It really had all been a dream! Sweetie Belle had not found out about her secret life. She was still just an innocent filly, blissfully unaware of who her sister really was. Then, who was screaming? Sweetie Belle, Sweetie Belle was screaming. No, no it was no dream, this was really happening!

Rarity snapped out of her shock and scooped up her screaming sister. She placed Sweetie Bell on her back and ran up the stairs, slamming the basement door behind her. Thankfully, Sweetie Belle had stopped her screaming when they had gotten out of the basement and was now merely hyperventilating. Rarity ran Sweetie Belle up to her room and placed her into her bed. Sweetie Belle was growing calmer in the safe confines of her bed, away from the nasty world she had just entered.

Rarity kissed Sweetie Belle's shaking head and went back downstairs. Questions plagued her, tormenting her every step. Could she have done more to stop Sweetie Belle from going in that basement? Did she want to stop her? How could things have gone so wrong!? Sweetie Belle was having such a wonderful day. She had just made two new friends who right away meant the world to her. Now mere hours after that, she had seen who Rarity really was. She found out her sister was a...no, they don't have a name for what she is.

Rarity didn't know what else to do aside from get back to work on her latest dress. She liked having something to focus on, something that distracted her from what had just happened.

A few hours went by before anything happened. Rarity was sewing a pattern on her dress when she heard quiet steps coming down the stairs. She snapped out of 'the zone' as she called it in time to hear Sweetie Belle's voice behind her. "Hi sis," she said quietly. Rarity turned around and looked at her. Her eyes were bloodshot and her mane was unkempt. She looked like she hadn't slept in years.

"Oh...hello Sweetie Belle, how...how are you?" The question sounded foolish in her mind, but what else was she going to say?

"I...I don't know," she said. The room was silent before Sweetie Belle spoke up again. "What did I see down there?" she asked.

"Well, I don't know. What did you see down there? Tell me and I'll do my best to explain."

"Well, I saw a table, a lot of what I think was dried blood...uh, pony skins and manes on the wall, something with feathers and uh, hooves maybe?"

"That's about the extent of it really," said Rarity.

"What does it mean?" she asked. "I get the blood, but what was with the skins?"

"Well...if a pony that I...uh, you know, has a hide or a mane that I particularly like then I put them on my wall."

"Oh," said Sweetie Belle.

"What are you thinking right now?" asked Rarity. Sweetie Belle merely shrugged. "That's all, you don't know?"

"Well, I guess I want to see the basement again now that I know what's down there," she said.

"Oh Sweetie Belle, I don't think that is a very good-"

"I practically live here when Mom and Dad are gone, I know how to get in anyway, I'll do it whether you want me to or not!" said Sweetie belle angrily.

"Sweetie Belle, that's not a world that I want you to be a part of! I don't want you seeing that part of me! Please don't go down there!" pleaded Rarity.

"I've already seen it!" said Sweetie Belle. "I just...I don't know, I think I'll feel less scared if I can see it already knowing what's down there."

"Sweetie Belle, that doesn't-"

"I'd rather go down with you," she said. This surprised Rarity.

"Even though you know I caused all of it?" she asked. Sweetie Belle nodded.

"It's just torturing me, not understanding what I saw down there. I need to know," she said. Rarity sighed and nodded. She knew that Sweetie Belle was going to go down there whether she wanted her to or not. She was a smart filly, and she would get down no matter what Rarity did.

"Follow me," she said.

The trip down to the basement was far less eventful than their previous one. Sweetie Belle seemed nervous as they walked down the stairs, but she still had the determination to understand that she had when she had come down here last time. As they walked in to the main room, Sweetie Belle's eyes widened with fear as she got a good look at the carnage inside. "We can leave whenever you want to Sweetie Belle," said Rarity. Sweetie Belle merely nodded.

The next few minutes seemed like an eternity to Rarity as she watched Sweetie Belle explore her dark world. She read her poster, examined the skins and manes on the wall, and she even managed to find her large collection of knives. "Anypony I know here?" she asked blankly.

"That one is Trixie, the boastful unicorn who came to town a while ago. The one with feathers is Gilda, Rainbow Dash's friends." Sweetie Belle nodded. She examined the wall for a few more moments and ran her hoof over a blank spot on the wall.

"Can we put Diamond Tiara's skin here?" she asked. Rarity's eyes widened and she moved Sweetie Belle away from the wall got in between it and her sister.

"NO! I don't kill foals!" she said. Sweetie Belle glared at her.

"But you killed those bullies when you were a filly!" she said sternly.

"Yes I did Sweetie Belle, but I was a filly myself back then. I haven't killed a filly since I was 11 years old and I promised myself I wouldn't do it again!" Sweetie Belle glared at her. Rarity sighed in frustration. "Look Sweetie Belle, I cannot escape my actions. I've killed seventy-three ponies and a griffin, and I can never take those deaths back! You don't have to be like me!" Sweetie Belle's ears flattened.

"But...but I've always wanted to be like you," she said sadly. "I was always proud to have you as my big sister."

"Something I never deserved, then or now," said Rarity.

"What do you want me to do now?" she asked.

"I want you to go back upstairs and do your best to...to forget that this ever happened. Push the angry feelings out of your mind and don't be like me," said Rarity bluntly. Sweetie Belle looked up at Rarity angrily, tears forming in her eyes.

"You know I can't ever forget this! Let me help you once or I'll tell!" Now it was Rarity's turn to be angry.

"You Pinkie Promised Sweetie Belle! Do you know what happens to ponies that break Pinkie Promises?" she said angrily.

"What? What do you do?" asked Sweetie Belle, her anger rising with Rarity's. Without thinking, Rarity pointed at one of the hides on the wall. Sweetie Belle's anger faded away and she shrank back.

"If I tell, you'll do that to me?" she asked quietly. Rarity immediately regretted her action.

"No! Sweetie Belle, if you told the entire kingdom of Equestria what I do down here, I still wouldn't hurt you at all! I made a promise to never hurt you and that promise remains!" she said. This seemed to mollify Sweetie Belle slightly and she seemed to relax a bit more.

"Well, then what now? I'm not forgetting that this happened. That's impossible for me to do. I can never look at you the same way now!" she said. "I have angry feelings too you know! I've imagined myself standing over Diamond Tiara with her ripped out heart in my hooves! I can help you do this!" she said desperately.

"There is a huge difference between imagining it and actually doing it Sweetie Belle," said Rarity. "Everypony has imagined what it would be like to hurt another pony, but the actual action is something far different. You would never be the same."

"You seem to do okay for yourself!" said Sweetie Belle. "Do you ever regret what you do?" No, she most certainly did not.

"Yes, I most certainly do!" she said. "I wish that I could go back to the day when I first killed those bullies and stop myself from ever killing them, even the one I killed on accident and in self-defense." Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow.

"On accident and in self-defense?" she said.

"Yes, they were coming towards me to beat me up and I hit the leader on the head with a rock," she said, walking over to her workbench. "This rock as a matter of fact." Sweetie Belle took the rock from Rarity's hooves. She examined it for a few seconds before handing it back to Rarity.

"Can I watch the next time you do it at least?" she asked.

"No. I don't want you to be part of this," she said. "Please trust me on this. Please never hurt anypony. Take solace in the fact that you have good friends. I didn't have friends like you do now back when I was your age. I was too busy with...this." Sweetie Belle nodded. She began walking back towards the stairs.

"I understand sis." she said. She walked up a few more steps before she turned back to Rarity. "I don't hate you for this. I don't blame you and I am not disgusted by it."

"That's more than I deserve Sweetie Belle. I deserve death for this." Sweetie Belle merely shrugged and walked back up the stairs.

Rarity put the rock back in its proper spot and closed the top of her workbench. She then sat down, put her face in her forelegs and cried.


	11. Claudere Vocant

Rarity wiped her eyes and got up from her workbench. She didn't know what to do with Sweetie Belle now. She had insisted that she be allowed to kill somepony! Did her want to be just like Rarity really extend that far? The thought terrified her as she walked up the stairs. The worst part was that Rarity felt that she was the one responsible for this whole mess. Well, she was responsible for all of it. There were no doubts in Rarity's mind that if she wasn't a serial killer than this would never have happened. But she felt that her need to go comfort Sweetie Belle the moment after she had murdered the solicitor was what had potentially given Sweetie Belle her desire to kill Diamond Tiara. If Sweetie Belle hadn't experienced what it was like to have another pony's blood all over her, then maybe she would have never felt like this.

As Rarity went upstairs to take a bath, she mused that maybe it wasn't that day when Rarity had killed the solicitor; maybe Sweetie Belle was born with the killer instinct! On that matter though, was Rarity born with it or did that fateful day in the clearing turn her into one. She went back and forth on that. "Well Rarity, it has been a tough day, but now that it is over, I hope we can both move on and Sweetie Belle will not let this affect her," said Rarity.

"Well Rarity, I know that this is completely crazy, but what would be the harm of letting Sweetie Belle at least audit one of your kills? Then she would see how horrible it is and she would never want to have anything to do with it again."

"But you don't know that Rarity! What if she wants to do it more than ever? What if she goes out and tries it on her own! She could get caught! The punishment for murder is death, there is no wiggle room on that! If she did kill and get caught, would you take the blame for it?" Rarity thought about that question. She did feel responsible for how Sweetie Belle was acting right now, and if Sweetie Belle was caught trying to kill another pony, would Rarity take the blame for it?

"I...I don't know if I would Rarity. Even if I did admit my guilt, then both of us get executed. You know that I've done my research on this. The death penalty has been given to foals before. The youngest one was eight years old...which is just how old Sweetie Belle is. Both of us would die for it!"

"Then that is a choice that we must accept in that instance Rarity. You just have to make sure that it never comes to that."

"Agreed. It can never come to that."

When Rarity got out of the bathtub, it was night time. Time for a well-deserved sleep. Things would look better in the morning, they always did. When she exited the bathroom, she heard the door to Carousel Boutique shut. Curious, she went downstairs and saw that nopony was there. It seems that somepony had left her boutique. The only pony that could have done that was...Sweetie Belle!

Rarity ran down to her basement and threw open her workbench. To her horror, her meat cleaver was missing! With a yelp of shock, she bolted back upstairs and out the door. "Sweetie Belle!" she called out into the night. "Sweetie Belle, where are you!?" She ran back into her home. Maybe Sweetie Belle was still in her room and it was the wind that had opened and shut her door. The idea was foolish of course, but she had to hope.

Throwing the door to Sweetie Belle's room open, she saw what she feared the most: Sweetie Belle's bed was empty and her saddlebag, which was always hung on a bedpost, was missing too.

Rarity ran back downstairs and out the door. Where would Sweetie Belle have gone? Who would she go out to kill? Suddenly, it hit her: Diamond Tiara or Silver Spoon. She was going to go kill one of them! But which one was she going to go after first? Rarity knew where both fillies lived, but she knew that with the head start that Sweetie Belle had, Rarity only had time to go to the house of one of them before Sweetie Belle tried to kill the unlucky filly that she had chosen as her first victim.

Rarity tried to think like Sweetie Belle would in this instance. Would Sweetie Belle decide to go after the filly that had tormented her most first, or would she start smaller and go after Silver spoon first? She didn't have much more time to think about it. She decided to simply guess and hope that she would be right.

She ran towards Diamond Tiara's house. It was a large house on the outskirts of Ponyville as her father was very rich. Sweetie Belle would have a very hard time getting into that house without being spotted.

After 10 minutes of running, Diamond Tiara's house appeared on the horizon. With each step it came closer to the frantic unicorn, who hoped that she wasn't too late.

As she approached the house, she began searching wildly for her sister around the grounds. With each passing minute, Rarity became more and more sure that she had chosen wrong, that a young filly had died tonight because of her actions. Rarity knew that Silver Spoon's house was on the other side of Ponyville and that there was no way for her to get there in time to prevent Sweetie Belle from murdering the defenseless filly in her sleep. Rarity began to panic as she imagined what this would mean not just for Sweetie Belle, but for her entire family! If Sweetie Belle was caught then Rarity would also turn herself in leading to both of their deaths. Her parents would lose their jobs for sure. Nopony would want to buy items from a couple that had raised two murderers. Rarity decided that she just had to go home and wait for Sweetie Belle or the police.

However at that moment, Rarity saw a flash of white in the corner of her eye. She wheeled around just in time to see a small filly dart turn a corner to another side of the house. Rarity ran after it and to her relief, she saw Sweetie Belle sneaking around, looking for the best way into the house. "Sweetie Belle," hissed Rarity. "Come here at once!" Sweetie Belle gave a yelp of shock and turned around to see Rarity standing behind her.

"How did you find me!?" she said.

"Lucky guess. You must come home at once; I won't let you do this!" Sweetie Belle glared at her.

"You can't tell me what to do! I'm doing this whether you want me to or not!" she said stubbornly. Rarity bit her lip. What was she going to do? She had to make a decision and fast. Sweetie Belle was going to do this whether Rarity was okay with it or not. She sighed.

"Sweetie Belle if you come home with me now...I'll let you audit my next kill," she said in a defeated tone. Sweetie Belle's eyes widened with joy.

"Do you really mean it?" she said happily. Rarity mumbled angrily before saying,

"Yes, I do, but you must come home now!" she said. Sweetie Belle nodded and the two trekked back towards Carousel Boutique.

When they arrived, Rarity led Sweetie Belle into the kitchen and sat her down at the table. "Now Sweetie Belle, can you tell me what you did wrong tonight?" Sweetie Belle flattened her ears and looked away uncomfortably.

"Well, I broke into your basement, I took some of your stuff without permission I-"

"Despite the fact that that is all true, that is not what I am talking about." Sweetie Belle looked at Rarity confusedly.

'What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well, what do you think I mean?" replied Rarity.

"Uh, what I did wrong with the kill?" she said. Rarity nodded. Sweetie Belle looked contemplative for a moment. "Well, I don't know. I've never done this before."

"Precisely," said Rarity chidingly. "And as a result you almost definitely would have been caught. Do you know what they do to ponies who even try to kill another pony?" Sweetie Belle shook her head. "Attempted murder is life in prison without the possibility of parole. Successful murder is death. There is no wiggle room for either sentence."

"Even for fillies?" asked Sweetie Belle. Rarity nodded.

"Yes, even for fillies. The youngest filly ever to be executed was eight years old which, if you recall, is just how old you are. Celestia wouldn't care about your age."

"Oh," said Sweetie Belle.

"Now," said Rarity opening Sweetie Belle's saddle bag and dumping the meat cleaver onto the table. "Your first problem is that you picked the wrong weapon entirely. What were you planning to do with this anyway?"

"Well, I don't really know. I just grabbed the biggest knife that I could find. I guess I would have just cut her or something."

"Sweetie Belle, I use this knife to hack off limbs if I want to do it quickly. I do not use it for slicing ponies open. Aside from that, the second you started cutting her, not that you have the strength or magic to use it accurately, she would have started screaming her head off and you would have been caught in seconds." Sweetie Belle nodded.

"I guess so," she said.

"Also, do you even know the layout of Diamond Tiara's house? Do you know what room she sleeps in, what floor she is on, what is the quickest way to get to her room from the outside, how to get inside the house in the first place, where her parents sleep, or anything of that nature?" Sweetie Belle blushed in embarrassment and shook her head. Rarity nodded. "That's what I thought."

"I just wanted to be like you," said Sweetie Belle dejectedly.

"Sweetie Belle, even I don't kill ponies in their homes if I can avoid it."

"But you've done it before?" asked Sweetie Belle.

"Only twice and those were special circumstances. I never do it for a casual kill." Sweetie Belle nodded.

"I guess that makes sense."

The two sat in silence for a moment before Sweetie Belle spoke up again. "So, when are you going to do it next?" Rarity shrugged. Not for a while if she could help it unless absolutely necessary. Maybe with enough time, Sweetie Belle would forget all about this. "But I still get to help right?" she said.

"You can watch," she said.

"Pinkie Promise?" she said. Rarity froze for a moment. Curses, the one thing she hoped that she didn't say.

"Pinkie Promise," said Rarity, making the motions that went with the promise. Sweetie Belle smiled before getting up and hugging Rarity.

"You're the best big sister in the whole world!" she said. "But, I think it's time for me to go to bed. It's been a long...interesting day." Rarity gave a slight nod and a small smile before Sweetie Belle went up the stairs to her room. Sweetie Belle's words stayed with Rarity for a moment. She thought that Rarity was the best big sister in the whole world, but would she still think that when she was watching Rarity murder? Of course she wouldn't.

Rarity decided that she had better get to bed too and after taking a drink from the sink, she went up the stairs to her room. She passed Sweetie Belle's room and heard a strange noise coming from it. She opened the door a crack and peeked in.

Sweetie Belle was lying on top of the covers on her bed and curled up in a ball.

She was crying her eyes out.


	12. De profundis clamavi ad te Domine

Yeah, I know that I've been going with the Latin chapters for a bit here, but if you translate them, they do sound better than what they actually translate into.

She had really done it this time. The tomato vendor in town, a white earth pony mare with dark brown hair about Rarity's age with a single tomato as a cutie mark named Scarlet Tomato, had always run a tough business. She was never afraid to try to squeeze a few more bits out of a customer if she could. That was the twisted reason that Fluttershy was her favorite customer.

Scarlet Tomato only reserved her extortion techniques for the shyest or most gullible ponies in Ponyville, or any town for that matter. Fluttershy not only fit into both of those categories, but even if she did know that she was being cheated, she would never cause a ruckus about it. As such, Fluttershy often found herself paying 2 bits per tomato. It was an outrageous practice in Rarity's mind.

This particular day, Fluttershy was buying tomatoes for a dish that she was making for a potluck dinner that the six of them were going to have the next day. As per usual, Fluttershy walked up to the tomato stand with her head low and her ears flattened. It was a stance that Rarity had seen her in often when she was embarrassed. Scarlet Tomato greeted her with her usual satisfied grin. Rarity surmised that this evil mare gained joy out of seeing this poor Pegasus feel so demeaned.

Fluttershy scooped a trio of tomatoes into her bad and placed 10 bits on the counter. Rarity, who had recently purchased tomatoes earlier that week had paid two bits for five tomatoes. Rarity saw Scarlet Tomato scoop the bits into her cash box, still wearing that insufferable grin. Rarity gritted her teeth and gave a frustrated growl. She must talk to Fluttershy about standing up to her one of these times. For now, she would have to talk with Scarlet Tomato. It would be a talk that would determine how long Scarlet Tomato had left to live.

Rarity marched up to the tomato stand, a look of pure fury on her face. Scarlet Tomato looked at Rarity with irritation. "What do you want?" she asked.

"I want you to go into your cash box and give me the eight bits you stole from my dear friend Fluttershy," said Rarity. Scarlet Tomato just gave her a smug smile.

"Or what? I didn't force her to give them to me. I just asked her for 10 bits and she gave them to me."

"You deliberately stole money from a poor, defenseless Pegasus. Have you no shame!?" asked Rarity. Scarlet Tomato paused for a second at this question. She looked deep in thought and she scratched her head for a brief moment before turning back to Rarity with that same smug grin.

"Nope! I can't say that I do. Now if you'll excuse me, I have other customers to attend to." Rarity looked behind her and sure enough, two ponies were waiting impatiently behind her, waiting to buy tomatoes. Rarity turned her attention back towards Scarlet Tomato who continued to give her that infuriating smug smile. "We have a little saying in the tomato business: get the heck away from my tomato cart."

If looks could kill then Scarlet Tomato and her entire extended family would have been struck dead on the spot. Rarity gritted her teeth. "This. Isn't. Over," she said angrily.

"I think it is, now go away," said Scarlet Tomato. Rarity turned around and trudged back to her shop. As she walked away, she heard Scarlet Tomato call to her. "I look forward to the three bits per tomato you're gonna owe me!"

That was the final straw. Scarlet Tomato would die tonight, as slowly and in as much agony as possible. Rarity would take special pleasure in peeling off chunks of her skin with her specially sharpened vegetable peeler. Oh, and her teeth would have to come out too. Would she smasher her in the mouth with a hammer or would she revel in Scarlet Tomato's screams as she pulled them out one-by-one with a pair of pliers? There were just so many juicy opportunities.

Rarity entered Carousel Boutique and immediately went down to her basement. In retrospect, she wasn't completely sure why she even went down into the basement in the first place. Hardly all of the knives she extracted from her workbench were actually used and Rarity felt that it was often more gratifying in the heat of the moment to improvise. Still, there was something oddly gratifying about the sense of control that she had when she was picking her instruments of death. "You're going to do it tonight, aren't you?" asked a young voice behind her. Rarity gave a small yelp of shock and turned to see Sweetie Belle looking at the arrangement of knives in Rarity's drawer.

"Oh, Sweetie Belle, I didn't hear you come down. Uh, yes, tonight is a kill night."

"And I still get to audit tonight right?" asked Sweetie Belle with an excited air about her. Despite that, Rarity sensed a twinge of fear in Sweetie Belle's demeanor.

"Oh, yes of course," said Rarity uneasily. "Uh, I'm going to go out and get the pony in question tonight at nine. You may wait in the kitchen for my return...or you can just forget the whole thing and go to bed," said Rarity. She had said that last part rather quickly, hoping that the twinge of fear that Sweetie Belle felt would be enough to discourage her. Sweetie Belle glared at her.

"I'll see you in the kitchen sometime after nine then sis!" she said angrily before storming back up the stairs. Rarity gave a growl of frustration. She really must change the musical key on the basement lock sometime.

She glanced up at the clock on the wall. 7:42. There was still plenty of time to decide what to do with Scarlet Tomato. Rarity gave grin as she remembered a crime novel that she had read earlier in the week. Reservoir Ponies it had been called. She particularly liked the character of Ms. Blonde. Oh, she really connected with Ms. Blonde. As she laid out her various knives, she began to remember how she had had a lot of fun attaching one of the main characters to each of her friends. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were Jane and Nice Gal Emily. Twilight was Ms. White, Applejack was Ms. Orange, and Fluttershy was Ms. Pink. Rarity did consider making Pinkie Pie into Ms. Pink but no, Fluttershy fit it better. As such, Ms. Brown was Rainbow Dash and Ms. Blue was Pinkie. Ooh it would be great fun to act out the book someday...if her friends could get past the violence and the profanity. Probably not though.

Rarity snapped out of her fantasy. What did any of that have to do with anything? Uh, how did she even get on the topic of Reservoir Ponies? Oh yes that's right, she wanted to act out some of the scenes with Scarlet Tomato tonight. Although, would tonight actually be the right night to do that with Sweetie Belle watching? She didn't want to get too graphic with her sister watching, but she still wanted to make Scarlet Tomato suffer. What to do, what to do?

Suddenly, she was struck with an idea. A wonderful, wonderful idea! She was surprised at herself for not thinking of it before! She glanced at her clock once more. 7:46. she had more than enough time to accomplish what she needed to do.

She trotted up the stairs, making sure to close the basement door behind her, and exited the shop. She made a beeline straight for Twilight's treehouse, hoping that Twilight would be able to help her. Rarity didn't see why not though; she was asking for a spell that Twilight had cast many times herself.

When she arrived at Twilight's door 15 minutes later, she knocked on the solid wooden door and immediately heard a commotion from the inside. "Spike can you answer that?" asked the familiar voice of Twilight Sparkle. She heard Spike's mumbled reply and within a few seconds, the door opened revealing a mildly irritated Spike. When Spike saw Rarity, he tensed up and started babbling like a silly filly with a schoolyard crush. Rarity didn't have time for Spike's little crush right now. Her sister was at stake here!

Twilight was hunched over a dusty old book, completely immersed in its pages. Rarity saw Twilight's eyes scan the pages, looking for whatever she was searching for in the book. Her mouth moved to mouth a word whenever she read it. It was a habit that Twilight exhibited whenever she was lost in the pages of a book or a scroll that she was reading. Rarity amused herself for a moment by trying to guess what words Twilight was reading while she waited for Twilight to give Rarity her attention. Magic...onion...astrophysicist...Luna...and...sail...botany...wife? Either Twilight was reading a very strange book or else Rarity wasn't very good at this. She opted for the latter.

Rarity glanced at the clock on Twilight's wall. 8:02. She didn't have time to wait for Twilight to finish up what she was doing! Rarity cleared her throat which seemed to snap Twilight out of 'The Zone'. She gave Rarity an embarrassed grin. "Oh, hey Rarity. Sorry about that, I just reading this fascinating book about how thousands of years ago, Princess Luna helped an astrophysicist transport magical onions across the sea for a botany convention that his wife was attending. It's really interesting stuff and I kind of got lost in if for a minute there."

"Try thirty-five," mumbled Spike. Twilight shot him a glare before turning her attention back towards Rarity.

"What can I do for you?" she asked.

"Well, I was hoping that you had a book on memory spells or something of that nature. You see, Sweetie Belle is having trouble remembering the details of a presentation that she has to give to the class and she lost the script. She's too nervous to ask Cheerilee for another one so I was wondering if I could get a book on memory spells to see if I can't help her out a little bit." It wasn't a perfect excuse but it was the best that she could do for right now. Twilight seemed to buy it though as she gave Rarity a smile.

"Yeah! I have just the book for you," said Twilight, walking over to one of the shelves in the library and pulling out a dark blue book. "This should do the trick Rarity. Oh, and don't worry, unless you have absolutely zero magical talent, there should be no bad effects if the spell isn't cast properly."

"Oh thank you Twilight, you are a lifesaver for Sweetie Belle!" said Rarity, breathing a sigh of relief. Twilight nodded happily.

"Glad to help out a friend Rarity. Let me know if you need help with it or anything!"

"Will do Twilight," said Rarity as she exited the library. Scurrying back home, she found Sweetie Belle sitting in the kitchen waiting for her. Sweetie Belle looked up confusedly at Rarity.

"Where's the pony we're gonna kill?"

"I'm going to kill Sweetie Belle. You're going to just watch." Sweetie Belle's ears drooped.

"I can't even help just a little?" she asked.

"Not tonight," said Rarity sternly. "As for why the pony in question is not here, I have not collected her yet. I said that i would go at nine and it is hardly 8:30 yet. We have some time." Sweetie Belle nodded.

"So, do you know who it's gonna be yet?" she asked. Rarity nodded.

"I'll show you who it is when I bring her back," said Rarity simply.

"What...what are we gonna do with her?" asked Sweetie belle nervously. "Is she going to go on your wall?" Rarity shook her head.

"No darling, I don't think so. As for the other details, well, they just kind of happen naturally. It rarely goes how I plan them in terms of method. I was thinking of starting by slicing off her ears and maybe her teeth." Sweetie Belle became much more nervous but made her best attempt at a smile.

"Oh...yeah, that sounds...great I guess uh, I think I'm gonna go up to my room and...uh, something," said Sweetie Belle.

"Sweetie Belle, you clearly don't want to do this so I must insist that you not be down there for-" Sweetie Belle's eyes flashed with anger once more.

"No! You said I could be there with you and I'm gonna be there! Don't go back on your word now!" said Sweetie Belle angrily.

Sweetie Belle stomped up the stairs. Rarity gave another frustrated groan. How could Sweetie Belle be so stubborn!? Their parents certainly weren't stubborn ponies so where could she have gotten...? Oh, right. Rarity cleared her throat.

She opened one of the top cabinets in her kitchen and used her magic to pull out a hay bar. It would serve her well to have the proper amount of energy for tonight's task. While she ate, she scanned Twilight's book. She didn't want a memory spell to bring back memories; she wanted a memory spell to erase memories. After some searching, she found what she was looking for.

As she finished the bar and studying up on the spell, she glanced at her clock. 8:45. She sighed. She was far too restless to just sit there waiting for another fifteen minutes. She got up and walked out into the main room. "Sweetie Belle," she called up the stairs. "I'm leaving a little early. If you are down here when I get back then I know you'll still want to watch. if you're not, then I'll know you don't."

"Okay," came Sweetie Belle's shaky response. Rarity sighed and nodded. Even as she exited out the front door, she heard quiet hoofsteps coming down the stairs.

Half an hour later, Rarity returned to her home with Scarlet Tomato placed securely in a potato sack. The kidnapping had gone as well as Rarity could have hoped and she was in and out of Scarlet Tomato's house in five minutes. She glanced into her kitchen with a tiny hope that Sweetie Belle had lost her nerve and would not be joining Rarity for tonight's events. No such luck. Sweetie Belle sat at the kitchen table, staring intently at the floor. She looked up when she saw Rarity come in. "Is that...?" Rarity nodded.

"Wait ten minutes for me to get everything set up then you may come down," said Rarity. Sweetie Belle nodded.

Rarity opened her secret basement door and went downstairs to begin the process. She opened up the bag and placed Scarlet Tomato on the table. She strapped her down and placed the table in a vertical position. She was checking the straps when she heard Sweetie Belle coming down the stairs. "Did you shut the door behind you?" asked Rarity.

"Yes sis," said Sweetie Belle.

Rarity continued to check the straps holding Scarlet Tomato down as Sweetie Belle reached the final step. When Sweetie Belle saw who was strapped to the table, she gave a gasp of shock.

"Oh sis, not her! Anypony but her!" said Sweetie Belle desperately. Rarity looked at her sister confusedly.

"Why not Sweetie Belle?"

"Her kid sister is in my class! I sit next to her in school. We talk to each other every day before class starts and she always talks about how much she loves her big sister Scarlet Tomato! You can't kill her! Her sister was telling me how she was going to take her on a sister-sister day this week and they were going to do the Sisterhooves Social this year! Can't you pick somepony else?" asked Sweetie Belle, tears now forming in her eyes. Rarity shook her head.

"I'm sorry Sweetie Belle, but it has to be her tonight. There is no other option." Sweetie Belle began crying in earnest now.

"But why her!?" she asked.

"She had been bullying and extorting money from Fluttershy for weeks now. Every time Fluttershy goes to buy tomatoes from her, she charges Fluttershy a ridiculous amount."

"That's what this is all about? A few extra bits for tomatoes?" asked Sweetie Belle in shock. Rarity shook her head.

"No darling, it's more about protecting Fluttershy. I tried to talk to Scarlet Tomato about how she shouldn't treat Fluttershy that way and she refused. Furthermore, she told me that I would now have to pay extra for tomatoes."

"You could just get them somewhere else!" said Sweetie Belle. Rarity shook her head again.

"No, that's not how I operate," she said bluntly. "Now, since this is bothering you so much, I must insist that you-"

"NO! I'm staying right here!" said Sweetie Belle stubbornly. "I'm gonna sit here and watch you do this. You promised sis!" Before Rarity could argue further about it, Scarlet Tomato groaned as she slowly began to wake up. The two sisters looked at their victim. There was no going back for Sweetie Belle now. Scarlet Tomato woke up in earnest now and gave a gasp of shock as she looked at her surroundings. To Rarity's relief, she merely gave a few whimpers instead of screaming like so many of her victims did.

Scarlet Tomato looked at Rarity and Sweetie Belle. She stared at Sweetie Belle for a few seconds, her eyes wide with horror until Rarity cleared her throat. "Over here darling, we have some things to discuss before we begin," said Rarity. Scarlet Tomato turned her attention to Rarity.

"Look, if this is about the money you wanted earlier, I...I'll give it back. In fact I'll give every cent that I took from Fluttershy back plus...ten percent interest if you let me go!" she said desperately. Rarity rolled her eyes.

"Before we begin, I must ask you to read this as it will save us both a lot of trouble," said Rarity, pointing towards the poster. Scarlet Tomato began shakily reading the poster, fear etched into every inch of her body.

Within a few minutes, she stopped reading and turned to Sweetie Belle. "You...you're in my sister's class at school aren't you? Yes, your name is Sweetie Belle isn't it?" she said. The mask of calm that Sweetie Belle was trying to keep was slowly starting to slip. Sensing this, Rarity grabbed Scarlet Tomato's head in her hooves and jerked it so that she was facing her.

"Leave her out of this, this is just between us," she said menacingly. Tears began falling from Scarlet Tomato's face.

"How could you?" she said shakily. "How could you let her see this?" Rarity's face contorted with rage.

"I said leave her out of this. Celestia help you if you speak to or about her again," said Rarity. As wheeled her tray closer to the table, she glanced at Sweetie Belle who was desperately trying to act calm in the face of this situation. Rarity wondered how long she would last once Rarity began cutting in a few moments.

Rarity picked up a straight razor and flattened Scarlet Tomato's ear against the table. Scarlet Tomato began hyperventilating. "Please...don't do this," she said weakly. Rarity glared at her.

"You read the poster darling and you know that I don't like it when ponies say that to me. I'm afraid that I'm going to have to think of other fun things to do while you're still alive. Now hold still or I'm liable to mess this up," said Rarity. Scarlet Tomato shut her eyes tight as Rarity began slicing off Scarlet Tomato's ear. As Rarity continued to slice, Scarlet Tomato's whimpers of pain became louder and they gradually turned into cries of pain. Sweetie Belle was silent for now so Rarity ignored her.

With one quick tug using her magic, the ear was ripped off of Scarlet Tomato's head. She screamed in pain as Rarity nonchalantly tossed the ear aside. "Okay then, one more to go and then we can move on to your lips and teeth. You know, I really hated that smug grin you were giving me this morning darling. It was extremely rude." Scarlet Tomato didn't respond except to cry in pain.

As Rarity moved on to the right ear, she noticed that Sweetie Belle had picked up the severed ear and was examining it in her hooves. Rarity saw that she was going a little green. Sweetie Belle, put that down please," said Rarity as she began slicing off the left ear. Sweetie Belle tossed the ear aside and with what seemed to be to Rarity a great deal of effort, she began watching again as her sister sliced off the other ear.

Even with Sweetie Belle watching, there was something exhilarating about the feeling of a razor slicing through a pony's ear. This was a new trick for Rarity, one that she simply must remember for the future. With another sharp tug, the other ear came off with little effort. Scarlet Tomato forced her eyes open and turned towards Sweetie Belle.

"How can you just sit there while she does this to me?" she asked weakly.

"What did I say about talking to my sister?" asked Rarity angrily.

"You're friends with my sister, you're just a filly you shouldn't see this."

"Shut up now," said Rarity. Sweetie Belle was crying now, on the verge of completely breaking down at any moment.

"I know you, you're not like your big sister and you never will be. You-" before she could finish her sentence, Rarity used her magic to force Scarlet Tomato's mouth open and she shoved the razor into her mouth. She proceeded to slice open everything in Scarlet Tomato's mouth, paying particular attention to her tongue. Scarlet Tomato screamed in pain but she couldn't do anything to stop the assault.

"I told you to stop talking to my sister!" said Rarity angrily. "You didn't listen to me and now look at what's happening to you!" Rarity doubted that Scarlet Tomato even registered the words that Rarity was speaking to her over the immense pain in her mouth.

After a few more seconds of slicing, Rarity removed the razor allowing Scarlet Tomato to spit out a lot of blood. Rarity saw with satisfaction that she had also sliced off a few of her teeth as well. "Are we through being foolish?" she asked. Scarlet Tomato merely spit out more blood. "Very well then, I suppose that I can leave your lips and teeth alone for now. What say you to a little skinning hmm?" said Rarity as she grabbed her sharpened vegetable peeler. Scarlet Tomato eyed it with fear but she couldn't form any coherent noises with her mouth sliced up like that. Rarity had made sure to do a little work on in her throat as well.

Rarity placed the vegetable peeler on Scarlet Tomato's stomach and was about to begin when she heard a small voice beside her. She registered it as Sweetie Belle's she turned her head to face her. "What's that darling?" she asked.

"Can...can I do something?" she asked. Rarity gave a groan of frustration.

"First off Sweetie Belle, I have already told you Celestia knows how many times that you are just going to be watching for this one. Secondly, you look like you are about to keel over and die at any second. This is clearly disturbing you and I haven't even gotten to the worst parts yet, not by a long shot. Furthermore, if I was in my right mind now I would send you back upstairs where you belong!" Rarity thought about that last part for a few seconds. "In fact, yeah! You've seen enough Sweetie Belle. Go upstairs and get yourself to bed! I'll be up when I'm done here okay?" said Rarity angrily. To her utter relief, Sweetie Belle nodded and slowly began trotting towards the steps. Rarity would definitely have to use the memory spell on her as soon as possible...something she was planning to do at any rate.

As Sweetie Belle walked towards the stairs, she accidentally knocked over Rarity's tray, sending the assorted sharp objects tumbling to the ground. Rarity gave an angry groan. "Sweeeetiieeee Bellllle! Look at what you've done!" she said. Sweetie Belle looked at the assorted knives on the ground and before Rarity could do anything, she grabbed a scalpel, rushed over to Scarlet Tomato, and stabbed her in the leg. Rarity stood in shock for a few moments. Scarlet Tomato was convulsing in pain and blood was pouring from the stab wound in her leg. She was bleeding far more than was normal unless...oh Celestia.

Sweetie Belle was huddled in the corner screaming in terror. "Rarity! I don't understand, why is she bleeding like that!? I...I only meant to give her a little cut!" she said hysterically.

"You severed the femoral artery Sweetie Belle! She's...she's already dead," said Rarity. So she was. Scarlet Tomato lay motionless on the table, eyes wide with fear, looking directly at Sweetie Belle as if staring directly into her soul, pleading her to not do what she had just done.. Sweetie Belle sat in the corner, not even crying anymore. She just looked at the mare that she had just killed, almost in a contemplative way. Rarity didn't know what to do! Her sister had just killed another pony, something that Rarity had never wanted to happen. But the deed was done.

Sweetie Belle began shaking violently and before Rarity could say anything, she pulled a bucket close to her and vomited into it. When finished, she still had the look of contemplative shock on her face. "What did I just do?" she asked blankly. Rarity didn't even know how to answer. Instead she carried Sweetie Belle up to the main room and used her magic to clean them both off.

Sweetie Belle curled up into a ball on the ground, not moving, not even crying. Just lying there in shock. Rarity fired up her horn. If she did it right, Sweetie Belle would forget about this whole thing and simply wake up believing that she had fallen asleep on the floor.

However, Sweetie Belle heard Rarity's horn fire up and she rolled out of the way, causing Rarity's spell to hit the floor. "I knew it!" said Sweetie Belle, betrayal in her voice. "I knew you were going to kill me!" she said angrily.

"No Sweetie Belle, I'm trying to save you!" said Rarity desperately as she fired off another memory spell which Sweetie Belle easily dodged.

"I don't believe you! You're going to leave my dead body in the Everfree Forest for the timber wolves to rip to shreds!"

"I would never do that Sweetie Belle!" said Rarity as she fired off another memory spell.

Sweetie Belle was slower to react to this one and the spell hit her in the ear, knocking her backwards. Sweetie Belle quickly recovered. "You killed that mare in the basement! I saw you stab her in the leg and I'm going to tell everypony I see!" said Sweetie Belle, rushing for the door.

"Sweetie Belle, you Pinkie Promised me that you wouldn't tell anypony about what I do in my basement!' said Rarity frantically. Sweetie Belle stopped dead in her tracks and looked confusedly at Rarity.

"Uh, no I didn't," she said. "The last Pinkie Promise I made to you was to clean my room by the time you got home from Twilight's. That was last month."

"No Sweetie Belle, you Pinkie Promised that you wouldn't tell anypony about big sister being a serial killer!" said Rarity.

"I think I would remember making a Pinkie Promise like that," said Sweetie Belle.

"Sweetie Belle! You..." It hit Rarity at that moment and she facehooved herself. "Oh for Pete's sake." Sweetie Belle ran towards the door once more and Rarity moved to intercept her. She didn't dare try another memory spell right now as she was not sure what the outcome would be. She shot a freezing spell at Sweetie Belle that hit her directly in the back of the head, freezing her to the spot.

Rarity placed the frozen Sweetie Belle into the potato sack and went to the home of the only pony that she felt like she could turn to at this moment.

Within 10 minutes, she was knocking frantically on Twilight's door. It took a few minutes, but the door was answered by Twilight who grinned when she saw her friend. "Oh, hey Rarity. What's in the bag?"

"Twilight, thank goodness you're awake! I have a huge emergency and you are the only pony that I can turn to!" Twilight's expression turned to one of concern.

"Oh, I'll help in any way I can of course. Come down to my basement, we can talk down there without disturbing a sleeping Spike."

"Thank you Twilight, you're a lifesaver!" said Rarity.

Rarity followed Twilight into the basement and placed the potato sack down. She opened it, revealing a still frozen Sweetie Belle. Twilight gave a yelp of shock at this. She stared at the frozen filly, a look of horror on her face.

"What in the name of Celestia happened!?" she said.

"It was the memory spell. I think I cast a variation of it that I didn't intend to. It altered her memory somehow. She now thinks that a dream that she has been having on and off again is real."

"What dream?" asked Twilight curiously examining the frozen filly. Rarity was far too tired and stressed to come up with a lie.

"Well, to hear her describe it, the only part that she remembers when she wakes up is me holding her as a baby pony, panicking about something. We're both covered in blood." Twilight looked up with a raised eyebrow at the last part.

"Wow, sounds like a pretty horrifying dream," she said before furrowing her brow thinking about something. "I think I have a solution here." Rarity breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh that's simply wonderful Twilight!" Twilight nodded and opened a closet to their left.

"I've been working on this machine that can recall dreams and memories and display them on this screen here," she said. "I think that if I can find the dream that she's been talking about, we can pinpoint what in her subconscious is causing it and we can see what kind of damage the spell did and where and with what memories. This dream you're talking about should be a good starting point."

Twilight wheeled the machine next to Sweetie Belle and placed a headset on her. She began using her magic to press keys on a keyboard connected to the machine. "Okay, so when would you say that she started having these dreams?" asked Twilight.

"The last time she told me about one was a few days ago," said Rarity. She wasn't sure why she wasn't thinking of a better story. Twilight nodded and input the data into the machine. The view screen showed only static. Twilight frowned at this.

"I don't get it, I know for a fact that this machine works because I used it only a few days ago." she began typing again. "Maybe if I expand the time range we can find it." The machine still showed static. "Hmm...well, we can try one other thing. I'm going to search for it in the 'memory' category. I doubt something like you two being covered in blood is actually there, but with the memory spell it's possible." Rarity froze at this. She desperately wanted to destroy the machine, to pull the plug and try her chances with the memory spell again. She surmised that because she had been so rushed and had only hit Sweetie belle's ear that was the reason that the memories hadn't been completely erased. "Okay, file 'memories', keywords 'Rarity' 'filly sweetie Belle', 'blood'." Twilight pressed a few more buttons and after a few seconds, it appeared.

Rarity had to stop herself from crying. It was a memory that she hated revisiting and now here it was, displayed in front of her. There was her 16 year old self, trying to hold it together in front of a baby Sweetie Belle. Both were covered in blood. Twilight was staring at the view screen in shock. "I guess this is it," she said quietly.

"I guess so," said Rarity. Twilight paused the memory, and looked at the information that was scrolling across a second, smaller screen above the keyboard. Twilight frowned at what she was seeing.

"But, that doesn't make any sense," she said confusedly.

"What?" asked Rarity.

"According to this, this memory was from when she was just a few weeks old. But I searched for the most recent of these memories. So, unless you really messed up with the spell," said Twilight turning to Rarity with a grim look. "This is no dream, it's a real memory." Silence filled the basement for a few moments before Twilight spoke up.

"Rarity, would you mind explaining this to me?" she said, pointing to the view screen. "Whose blood is that?" Rarity didn't have the mental capacity right now to formulate an answer. The events of that night combined with seeing this memory once again, with Twilight in the room no less, was just to much for her to take in right now. Twilight warily turned back towards the machine and began typing again. She read the information that came across the screen silently for a moment before turning back to Rarity. "Rarity, the machine told me that you cast a 'forget' spell on Sweetie Belle today. There seem to be 18 minutes of memory that aren't there anymore, scattered over a bunch of different days. What did you want her to forget Rarity? Does it have something to do with this?" she asked pointing to the view screen once more.

"I...I...Twilight, let me explain," said Rarity. Twilight glared at her but didn't say anything. Rarity tried to formulate an explanation, anything that would shift suspicion off of her, but no words came.

"Rarity," said Twilight "Whose blood is that? That's too much blood to have come from a simple cut or something. That amount of blood would only come out if you..." her eyes widened with shock and before Rarity could react, Twilight hit her with a freezing spell. Rarity lost all ability to move anything below her neck. Twilight silently lifted the headband off of Sweetie Belle and placed it on Rarity's head. Having taken note of the date of Sweetie Belle's memory, she typed it into the computer. Rarity felt a small shock go through her head as the memory played out on the screen again, only from her perspective.

Twilight silently set the machine to show Rarity's memories from a few minutes before that point. The image of the solicitor flashed across the screen.

"Well good afternoon miss, may I have just a moment of your time? I'm with the Phillydelphia Valley Corporation and we're looking for a few ponies here in Ponyville to do a survey for our company regarding business prices and customer satisfaction. Would you mind it if I asked you a few questions?"

"Oh, no thank you I am not interested," said Rarity, trying to close the door.

"It would just take few moments miss."

"I said..."

"Only a few moments and you will receive a 20 bit gift card for our business," pushed the solicitor. Rarity inwardly gritted her teeth but she was struck by an urge she had not had in a long time. She adopted a sweeter attitude.

"Well, I suppose it's okay, if it really will just take a moment. Would you like to come in? I have some tea on the stove." The solicitor smiled.

"Why that sounds very lovely miss...?"

"Oh, Annie, my name is Annie."

"Well, Annie, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance," he said as Rarity led him into the house.

"Likewise, now if you'll excuse me, I must go check on the tea." Twilight stared in horror as 16 year old Rarity did not get tea, but instead grabbed a large knife. Rarity could only stare on in horror as Twilight saw her brutally murder the solicitor. Twilight began shedding tears of horror as the memory caught up to where it had originally started. Twilight paused the machine once more and turned towards Rarity. She stared at her in silence for a few moments, tears streaming down her face.

"Why?" she said quietly. Rarity could only tell the truth now.

"When I was eight years old, i was tormented by three bullies who were attacking me in a place that was very sacred to me. They were going to beat me up, saying that since my parents didn't have money nopony would care. As their leader approached me to begin the torture, I grabbed a large rock lying nearby and hit him in the head with it. I didn't mean to kill him, but that didn't change the fact that that was exactly what I had done. I then proceeded to murder the other two bullies," said Rarity. Twilight began shaking, unable to believe what she was hearing.

"But what does that have to do with this?" she asked shakily.

"Those three bullies were just the first. I have since killed a total of seventy-three ponies, one griffin, and I participated in the killing of a seventy-fourth pony tonight, but I was not the one to actually do the killing."

"Y...you're a serial killer?" asked Twilight in disbelief. Rarity nodded. Twilight gave a pathetic whimper and her legs gave out under her. She sat down curled into a ball, hugging her hind legs and rocking back and forth, tears steaming down her face.

After a quarter of an hour of this, she finally looked up at Rarity. "Rarity," she said. "What happened tonight?" Rarity couldn't answer. How could she? Twilight looked like she as about to die of sorrow right here.

Guessing that Rarity wasn't going to answer, Twilight stood up and began typing into the machine. "No Twilight, don't do this to yourself!" said Rarity frantically. Twilight just ignored her and started up the memory. She started by witnessing the capture of Scarlet Tomato.

"Why her?" she asked quietly.

"She...she has been extorting money from Fluttershy for a long time now and being a general bully to her," said Rarity.

"So you decided to murder her? You could have just called the police!" said Twilight.

"I had no guarantee that justice would be served Twilight," said Rarity. She knew that this petty attempt to justify her actions would result in no sympathy from Twilight.

Twilight continued to watch as Rarity took Scarlet Tomato down into her basement. When they got there, Twilight paused the image to fully take in everything that was down there. She saw the pony hides and manes that hung up on the walls, the open workbench revealing Rarity's collection of knives, the table where she strapped down her victims so she could kill them, she saw it all.

Somehow Twilight worked up the nerve to continue and she watched in horror as Rarity sliced off Scarlet Tomato's ears, all the while yelling at her to stop talking to Sweetie Belle. She saw Rarity slice up Scarlet Tomato's mouth, she saw Sweetie Belle ask to help with the killing, she saw Sweetie Belle knock over the tray of knives, and she saw Sweetie Belle stab Scarlet Tomato in the leg, severing her femoral artery and ending her life. Twilight paused the memory there. She looked back at Rarity, no words being able to describe how she felt at that very moment.

Rarity sensed that the freezing spell had been lifted and Twilight curled up into a ball on the floor once again, rocking back and forth, a look of pure shock and horror on her face. Rarity walked up to her and charged up her horn. Twilight looked up and the fashion loving, pony killing unicorn and nodded.

"Thank you again for the book Twilight, I'm sorry we came so late," said Rarity as she and Sweetie Belle walked out the door of the library. A smiling Twilight Sparkle followed them out, stopping in the door frame to wave goodbye.

"No problem at all you two! You are always welcome. Just return that cookbook whenever you are done with it," said Twilight happily.

"Will do, goodbye Twilight!" said Sweetie Belle happily. Twilight gave one final wave and went back inside her house.

"What a great idea to make a late night snack sis!" said an ecstatic Sweetie Belle. "I've always wanted to make sunflower brownies and making them with the best sister in the whole world will make them taste even better!" Rarity smiled at the bouncing filly.

"I'm sure that you're right. And doesn't making them this late at night seem more fun?"

"Definitely!" said Sweetie Belle. Sweetie Belle stopped in her tracks for a few moments before pulling Rarity into a tight hug. "I love you. You really are the best big sister a filly like me could ever have." Rarity smiled and hugged Sweetie Belle back.

"Why thank you Sweetie Belle. You are a wonderful sister too and I love you very much." The two continued the hug for a few more seconds before rarity broke it off and led Sweetie Belle back to her house. "Now come on, let's go make some sunflower brownies shall we?"


	13. Diamond Dogs

Author's Note. I am taking a slight break from the heavy tone here with this next chapter. There will still be violent and death aplenty, but the tone will be slightly different without breaking character if I can help it. Yes some aspects of it might seem a little silly, but just go with it for now.

The evening began to settle over Ponyville as Rarity placed the last jewel on Sapphire Shores' costume and tool a step back to admire her work. Oh, how it glistened in the light, commanding the attention of anypony who would be in the room at the moment. This was her best work yet and she knew that Sapphire Shores would absolutely love it! At least, she hoped that Sapphire Shores would love it.

The door behind her opened and in walked Twilight, smiling that happy smile that Rarity liked so much. "Ah, good morning Twilight, how are you this fine morning?" she asked.

"Oh I'm doing just fine Rarity. I see that you've finished Sapphire Shores' costumes! They look absolutely beautiful," said Twilight admiringly.

"Why thank you darling," said Rarity. "Now, what can I do for you?" she asked. Twilight looked embarrassed at the question and blushed, something that confused Rarity. "Are you alright darling?"

"Yeah, I was just here because...of the Diamond Dog incident last week." Rarity raised an eyebrow.

"Oh really?" she asked.

"Yeah. Basically what I was wondering was if you could give me an account of what happened down there...if you want. See, ponies don't exactly know a lot about Diamond Dogs and I think your experience down there would give a lot of amazing data about them!"

"Oh! Yes of course darling, I'd be happy to help," she led Twilight towards the kitchen and sat her down at the table. "Oh before we begin, here is the book on memory spells that I borrowed from you," said Rarity, moving the book from the counter and placing it on the table next to Twilight.

"Oh, thank you Rarity! I was wondering where that had gone to. Now then, let's begin."

Over the next hour or so, Rarity described in detail the events of her ponynapping at the hands of the Diamond Dogs. She described their behavior, how they seemed to view ponies as lesser creatures than Diamond Dogs, and how they seemed to have a sort of unorganized hierarchy with a kind of military state, or at least the clan that Rarity had encountered did.

"This is good information Rarity! A lot of this I haven't been able to find in my books," said Twilight.

"Just out of curiosity, what do you ponies know about Diamond Dogs?" asked Rarity.

"Well first off, they live in a far off land somewhere beyond the great desert. It is a rite of passage for a Diamond Dog to cross the desert to make it to one of the outposts in Equestria. Only the males are allowed to make the journey and they must come back after seven years with as many jewels as they can find or they are banished and disgraced forever. The Diamond Dogs who ponynapped you were just one of the outposts around Equestria."

"I see. How...how large are these outposts in general would you say" asked Rarity curiously.

"From what I can gather, there can only be a maximum of twenty Diamond Dogs per outpost. It's easier to split the gems that they find that way," said Twilight as she closed her book. Twenty, thought Rarity. That means that there are only eighteen left in the outpost taking away the two I killed while they had me in their ghastly clutches. So, fifteen soldiers and the three leaders. Shouldn't be a problem, provided the weapon that I have chosen would be sturdy enough. Twilight looked curiously at Rarity. "Rarity?" Rarity snapped back.

"Yes Twilight?"

"You kind of seemed to phase out for a minute there," said the purple unicorn.

"Oh, I was just thinking for a brief moment about my time down there," she said. Twilight nodded.

"Makes sense, it was a traumatic experience on some level for you. Actually," said Twilight opening her book once more. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about today. Basically what I was wondering was if you could give me an account of what happened down there...if you want. See, ponies don't exactly know a lot about Diamond Dogs and I think your experience down there would give a lot of amazing data about them!" Rarity raised an eyebrow and cocked her head.

"Why darling, whatever have we been doing for the last half hour if not that?" she asked. Now it was Twilight's turn to look confused.

"Half an hour? I just got here Rarity," said Twilight. Rarity was getting nervous now.

"Uh, no Twilight, we have been discussing the Diamond Dog incident for the past half hour. See, it's all in your notebook!" Twilight looked down at her notebook and scanned the notes that she had written down.

"Huh...that's funny. I don't remember writing any of this," said Twilight glancing quizzically at the page. "But, it is my hoofwriting so I guess I did." Rarity was really nervous now.

"Um...maybe you had better go home and take a nap Twilight," she said, prompting a nod from Twilight.

"Yeah...I think I had better do that too," she said, getting up from the table. "Well, thank you for your help Rarity, I'm sure whatever information you gave me will be invaluable to my research." Twilight walked out the door of Rarity's home.

"Take care Twilight!" said Rarity. Twilight looked back and nodded.

"You too!"

The second the door was closed behind Twilight, Rarity ran towards the memory spell book in her kitchen.

When one is dealing with a memory erasing spell, one must have the utmost care and caution as well as a great deal of skill in the arts of magic. If this spell is improperly cast, it will at first have the illusion of success, but after a short time, the memory of the recipient will slowly begin to deteriorate. It will be simple at first, maybe the subject will misplace an item or forgetting a memory that just occurred. However, as time goes on, the memory of the recipient will fade until they can scarcely remember who they are. The spell eats away at all of their memories until they have none remaining in their brain. For adults, the process takes place over several months while with foals; it can be up to several weeks. The process is much faster with children as they have fewer memories to lose. Once all memories have been erased, the recipient can then begin to store memories once more, but all past memories can never return.

Rarity looked up from the book in horror. Twilight's spell was obviously miscast, but maybe she had gotten it right with Sweetie Belle? She desperately hoped so. She turned back to the book, hoping to Celestia that there was a reversing spell.

There is a simple way to reverse an improperly cast forget spell: one must merely cast a simple memory spell on the recipient of the forget spell and all of the memories will be returned and no further deterioration will occur. It must be cast before all memories are gone or else the damage is irreversible.

Rarity closed the book and gave a sigh of relief. All it would take to fix Twilight was a memory spell! Easy as pie, as Pinkie Pie would say.

Rarity began to walk out the door before stopping dead in her tracks. If she cast the memory spell on Twilight, then Twilight would remember that Rarity was a serial killer! Rarity's eye twitched. On one hoof, if Twilight's memory was not restored, then her identity was completely gone. All knowledge of magic, all memories of her friends, her family, of Princess Celestia and the Elements of Harmony, gone. On the other hoof, if she fixed Twilight, then Twilight would remember that not only was Rarity a serial killer, but that Sweetie Belle had committed a murder as well. Were her life and the life of her sister worth the memories of Twilight? Rarity so desperately wished that there was a clear-cut answer to this, but there was none.

Rarity also realized that if she didn't fix Twilight, Princess Celestia would get involved very quickly once the mental state of her favorite student was deteriorating and she would fix Twilight personally, which would in turn reveal Rarity's true self to Celestia directly.

Rarity looked out the window just in time to see a familiar grey Pegasus approach her door. Rarity walked over to her door just in time to hear Derpy knock.

Opening the door, she saw that the Pegasus was holding a note in her mouth. Rarity used her magic to take it from her.

"There's a package for you Rarity at the post office! It just came in a few hours ago," said the cross-eyed Pegasus. Rarity grinned.

"Why thank you Derpy, I will be on my way shortly to collect that." Rarity grabbed a few bits and placed them in Derpy's bag. The Pegasus gave her a wide smile of thanks before flying off again.

Rarity went back inside. The post office closed in 20 minutes so Rarity had to be quick about this. She grabbed her saddle bag and placed a pair of hunting knives inside (another import from Griffonia) before walking towards the post office.

She arrived at the post office mere minutes before it closed. The new mare behind the desk, a light brown unicorn, seemed far friendlier than that nasty Janice did. At any rate, Rarity doubted that she would put her hooves up on her wall. "Good evening," said Rarity in a friendly tone. "I'm here to pick up a package."

"Alright," said the unicorn who smiled at Rarity "Can I see your delivery slip?" she asked. Rarity placed the slip on the counter and scanned it for a brief moment. "Ah, you're order 24601. I'll be right back with that."

As the mare disappeared into the back room, Rarity began to get excited about the contents of the package. This one was another import, one that it had taken her years, and a lot of favors, to find. It would all be worth it to see the final looks on the faces of the Diamond Dogs when they saw what she had in store for them.

The mare came back after a few moments carrying with a long, brown package with her magic. "That should be the one," said Rarity happily. The mare nodded and gave the package to Rarity.

"That'll be 85 bits, just sign here." Rarity pulled out a bag of money and gave it to the mare before signing her name."

"Alright, that should be all for today. Thank you darling."

"Don't mention it," said the mare in a friendly tone. "Have a good evening."

"And you as well," said Rarity as she walked out of the post office. She knew that what she had to do must be done now. The memory problems with Twilight, and possibly Sweetie Belle, would have to wait for now. She had some Diamond Dogs to deal with.

Rarity went to the outskirts of town where she had run into the Diamond Dogs the last time and began searching for a hole into their lair. A few minutes was all it took for her to come across a deep hole in the ground, doubtlessly leading her to her targets. She shuddered for a moment as she remembered the feeling of their filthy claws on her beautiful coat as they dragged her into the dirt. She pushed the memory aside and jumped into the hole.

The hole, thankfully, did not lead directly to the ground but instead the dirt curved creating a slide which Rarity slid down into the lair. The journey lasted only a few seconds and soon Rarity was dusting herself off and making sure her mane was not out of place. She lifted up the package once more with her magic and went down the nearest tunnel.

Despite the fact that she had not come down here willingly last time and had been carried to the main lair, she still remembered which tunnels led to the main hall. Oh, how she would relish the moment when the last Diamond Dog lay at her feet, begging for mercy before she would take the contents of the package and end his life. She giggled at the thought and began skipping towards her destination.

Thankfully for Rarity, she stopped skipping just in time to see a sleeping Diamond Dog guard leaning against his spear and snoring like nothing else. Rarity grinned at this easy warm-up kill and tip-hooved up to him, slowly taking a knife out of her saddle bag as she did. The poor fool never knew what hit him as Rarity drew the hunting knife against his throat, bleeding him out in seconds.

Being careful to not step in the rapidly expanding pool of blood, Rarity continued towards the main room. It was not long before she reached her destination.

Looking inside the hall, she found the remaining fourteen guards sitting at a table, eating something or other. It clearly was an unsavory meal as they all seemed to have a hard time eating it. The three main Diamond dogs who had ponynapped Rarity were sitting at a separate table, quietly discussing something. Or at least, the smaller two were. The third listened in silently.

Rarity walked into the room and cleared her throat. Instantly, the seventeen Diamond Dogs looked at the intruder. The leader gave a frightened yelp when he saw who it was.

"You!" he said, getting up from the table and backing away slightly. Rarity gave a smile and nodded.

"Me," she said. The leader looked at the guards.

"Quick, surround her! Don't let her escape! We've got you now pony! We'll cut out your tongue before we put you back to work!" The fourteen guards surrounded Rarity, each pointing a crude spear at her. Rarity just rolled her eyes and put the package down on the ground.

"I believe I asked you to call me 'Miss' or 'Rarity' or 'Miss Rarity.' I thought I made it perfectly clear that I am a lady and wished to be addressed as such." The leader gave her a menacing growl.

"You will never see the light of day pony! We have you surrounded and we won't let you get away!" Rarity sighed.

"No, I am afraid that it is I who will not be letting any of you get away. However, this banter is meaningless in the end. Tell me, how well can these brutes that are surrounding me fight?" The smallest leader dog puffed out his chest proudly.

"They could take on an entire pony army armed with nothing but their claws!" he said boastfully. Rarity rolled her eyes.

"Yes, well, that might be a bit of an exaggeration don't you think? I mean, I think it would only take a few protective royal guards to take all of you out," she said before opening the box. "Or...One. Really. Angry. Unicorn!" she said, adding as much menace and venom to the words as she could. Rarity reached into the box and pulled out a katana.

There was a brief moment of silence as the Diamond Dogs pondered this new development. Did this prissy pony who had spent her entire time in their company complaining about things like dirt really know how to use that thing? Yes, yes she did.

With a snarl that would have made a dragon shrink back in fear, she lunged at the nearest Diamond Dog and swung her sword. The Diamond Dog's head was instantly severed and the twitching corpse fell to the ground. Rarity lunged at the Diamond Dog next to him and slashed him across the torso, sending him to the ground, howling in pain before lying still on the ground.

The Diamond Dogs were beginning to react to the attack now and one thrust his spear at Rarity who expertly dodged it and swung up, neatly severing his front leg at the elbow.

The Diamond Dogs were beginning to panic now, but they still had the clear advantage of numbers on their side. The three lead Diamond Dogs had overturned a table and were now hiding behind it like the cowards that they were.

The Diamond Dog guards were packed together in a tight group and the ones in front were jabbing at Rarity with their spears. Rarity would be cornered soon if she didn't so something fast. She opened up her saddlebag and pulled out one of the hunting knives. She threw it into the crowd of Diamond Dogs where it lodged itself directly into the eye of one of the closest dogs. He fell backwards, tripping up the dogs behind him which was all the opening that Rarity needed. She rushed towards the stunned group and swung her katana at the crowd once she was close enough. She relished at how sharp the blade was and how weak the skin of the dogs were as that one swing cut through the throats of two of the dogs who fell to the ground, dead as...well, as Rarity's other victims.

The Diamond Dogs began tripping over themselves in an attempt to back away from this madpony who was supposed to be an easy target for them to capture quickly. Since their numbers were at eight now instead of fourteen, they were beginning to doubt whether or not they could win as this pony had effortlessly killed or maimed six of their comrades. Still, she could get tired soon.

As Rarity advanced towards the frightened group, she felt a sharp pain across her back right leg. She looked behind her to see that the Diamond Dog whose foreleg she had severed had just slashed her in the leg with his spear! She snarled at him and with one swift moment, she jumped over to him and drove the katana into his head. As she pulled it out, she felt another sharp pain across her back and sure enough, one of the braver remaining dogs had seen this distraction as an opportunity to attack. If he wasn't such a brutish beast, he could have easily stabbed her in the head or in the sides instead of grazing her back. Rarity surmised that the gash wasn't deep but it still hurt like Tartarus. She swung her sword, neatly severing the dog's lower jaw. He fell to the ground writhing in pain. Just as Rarity went in for the kill, she felt herself being grabbed from behind. She dropped the katana on the ground where it was quickly picked up by the lead dog. She saw that the largest lead dog had wrapped her up from behind in a bear hug and held on tight. The lead dog went up to Rarity.

"It was a good effort pony...a really good effort actually," he said, mumbling the last part, "But you have failed. I think we'll ignore the fact that you can find jewels and just use you to pull carts. That means bye-bye horn, pony!" Rarity struggled to get out but it was no use, the dog holding her was just too strong.

As the Diamond Dog approached her to rip off her horn, Rarity remembered her saddle bag. She smiled and opened it up with her magic and she grabbed the other hunting knife and slashed the face of the lead dog with it. He backed away, dropping the katana and howling in pain giving Rarity the time to levitate the knife with her magic. She used her magic to stick the knife directly into the back of the dog holding her. She heard a thunk as the knife went into his back and a grunt of pain. He immediately dropped her and fell onto the floor, trying to reach back to pull out the knife. Rarity used her magic to bring the katana back to her. She walked over to the large, writhing Diamond Dog and pulled the knife out of his spine before decapitating him.

Rarity scanned the room. Two lead dogs left, the main leader and the small dog as well as eight guards, one of them severely injured. Two of the guards had dragged the injured dog away and were already trying to carry him further away from the battle. Rarity's horn glowed and the neck of the Diamond Dog was bathed in a magical aura. Within a few seconds, the room rang with the sound of his neck snapping like a toothpick. Rarity hated to kill him that quickly but hey, he had suffered a little.

The lead dog was desperately trying to stop the flow of blood coming from the large gash in his face but he wasn't too distracted to give orders. "For goodness sakes, everyone charge her at once!"

The remaining dogs just stood there in fear. The leader groaned. "Triple the jewels for anypony who kills her! Quadruple if you get her alive!" This piqued the interest of the guards who immediately charged Rarity, spears at the ready. Rarity readied her sword and charged the guards as well. At the last second, she dropped onto the ground and slid underneath the wall of spears, slicing both legs of a guard off.

As he fell to the ground, Rarity quickly stood up and stabbed one of the guards in the back, killing him instantly before decapitating another. Rarity giggled as the remaining four guards turned around. They had such slow response time.

Learning from her mistake, she finished off the Diamond Dog at her feet before turning her attention to the last six Diamond Dogs. "Look, this is just wasting my valuable time. If you just drop your weapons now I can promise you a painless death. I mean really, look around you! If I can beat eleven of you while just gaining a few scratches, why can't I defeat six with no trouble?"

The room was silent for a moment. The last six dogs merely stood there, their tiny brains trying to think up a way for them to get out of this situation. However, unbeknownst to Rarity, the smallest leader dog had a trick up his sleeve or more accurately, a knife. He slowly pulled it out while the pony's attention was focused on the four remaining guards. He slowly inched closer to the pony who didn't suspect at all that her death was imminent. With one quick motion, the dog drove the knife directly into Rarity's neck, severing an artery. Rarity fell to the ground, clutching at the large gash in her throat, looking helplessly around as the remaining six dogs circled around her.

"Well, it looks like we won in the end after all pony. All you accomplished was killing easily replaceable guards and one moron," said the leader. The other five laughed at Rarity as her life ended before them.

Or at least, that was the plan that the dog had worked out in his head anyway. Rarity had seen him with the knife the second he had pulled it out. Rarity grinned to herself. What a foolish display.

As the Diamond Dogs silently pretended to not notice their tiny leader approach Rarity, Rarity was counting down the seconds. Five...four...three...two...one. at one, Rarity swung her sword around and, since the dog was so small, she managed to completely cut him in half before charging the remaining four guards.

Within a few minutes, it was just her, and the leader. She turned around and saw the leader running away. She picked up her saddle bag, placed the knives in them using her magic and gave chase.

Rarity had managed to ignore the cut on her leg while the fight was going on, but during a chase it was becoming a big bother. Luckily for her though, the last Diamond Dog was leaving footprints behind him. She would catch him, that much was clear. There was no escape for him.

Rarity turned a corner and saw the Diamond Dog leader. He was desperately trying to dig himself away from this mess as he had just hit a dead end. Rarity fired a freezing spell at each of his feet, freezing them to the ground. The Diamond Dog struggled to get away but it was no use. Rarity calmly walked up to him and put her saddlebag on the ground. "Well, today has certainly been exciting hasn't it?" she asked. The dog's eyes widened with fear.

"If you just let me go I'll..." a glare from Rarity cut his words short. She opened up her saddlebag and pulled out one of the knives. After cleaning it off briefly, she turned towards the dog.

"Are you familiar with the Lunar War that happened in Equestria oh so many years ago?" asked Rarity. The Diamond Dog quickly nodded, hoping that humoring this madpony would put her in a better mood. "Well, I'm going to do this thing that they used to do in the Lunar War called 'Head on a Stick.' Basically, in the beginning of the war, the forces of Nightmare Moon would sometimes capture a ranking officer in Celestia's forces. They wondered, 'how can we stop them from getting away? We don't want to do any damage that will weaken them which will mean that they'll be less likely to give us the information we want.' So, the forces of Nightmare Moon created this thing called 'Head on a Stick'." Rarity paused for a moment to really soak in the Diamond Dog's fear. "Because once your spinal cord is severed, that's really all you are," she said.

In that moment, she drove the knife into the dog's back. She felt the sharp knife scrape against the dog's spine and she continued pushing the knife in until she felt it sever. The Diamond Dog cried out in pain during the process, but once it was over, he didn't feel any pain. He began hyperventilating, something Rarity hated when her victims did it.

She reached down to one of the dog's legs with her knife and made a deep cut, severing the femoral artery. She cut it deep enough to sever the artery, but not so deep that the dog would bleed out in seconds. No, this would take about half an hour. She wanted the dog to see its life slowly slipping away, to comprehend the horror that nopony could save him now.

Rarity cleaned off the knife and placed it back into her saddlebag. She walked away from her victim before turning back for a second. "You take care now," she said in an overly sweet voice.

Rarity exited the Diamond Dog cave. She had placed her katana back into the box which had miraculously avoided even a drop of blood. She had managed to stop the bleeding from her wounds easily enough, and was looking forward to a nice long bath when she got home. She was absolutely filthy.

As she approached Ponyville proper, she relished in the fact that the streets were empty at this time of night. It made sneaking around much easier.

Rarity's beloved boutique came into view and she gave it a loving smile before crossing onto the street that would lead her straight home.

As Rarity crossed the street she was run over by a taxi.


	14. Memories

Beep

Oh Celestia this hurt.

Beep

"Is she gonna be alright doc?" said a muffled, faraway voice. It sounded vaguely familiar, like it belonged to somepony that she knew.

Beep

"Well, we'll have to see. I'm pretty sure that she'll be okay. Although that taxi really did a number on her. If it had been going any faster it would have killed her instantly. I'm just glad there was no damage to her horn or things would have gotten really messy." said a second voice.

Beep

"Well, thanks for helpin' her out doc, I know you're doin' everythin' you can for her," said the first voice. That voice...Apple-something. Apple...Applejack! Yes, the voice belonged to her good friend Applejack! She heard Applejack begin crying. Whatever was the matter with her? Did it have something to do with the excruciating pain she was in? She heard Applejack's voice become clearer. Rarity surmised that she was leaning in to talk into Rarity's ear. "I won't let you die sugar cube, I won't let this happen again! Do you hear me Rarity? Don't you dare die on me!"

Beep

Ug, more pain again. It had gone away for a while there. But now there was blackness with the pain. Blackness, like she was asleep or something. Or was she dreaming? Rarity couldn't figure out what in Equestria was happening to her!

Beep

Taxi, she remembered something about a taxi. With the taxi came the pain. With the taxi came the pain! She had been run over by a taxi! How in Equestria does a white pony get hit by a taxi even at night!?

Beep

Oh well, she could just hunt down the driver later.

Beep

Grrr, what was that infernal beeping noise!? It was really starting to irritate Rarity to no end and really, wasn't she in enough pain without being in a constant state of irritation as well? Apparently not it seemed.

Beep

She would have some serious complaining to do when she woke up. At least, she hoped that she would wake up. What if she didn't!? Twilight and Sweetie Belle's memory spells would be reversed by Celestia and they would tell her everything! No, that wouldn't happen because Rarity was going to wake up right now! She was going to wake up if it killed her! Uh, well, maybe not that for obvious reasons.

Beep

With the beeping this time came a fuzzy light. Ooh, this might be a good sign that she was waking up. Or it could mean that she was about to die. Either way, something would get done! The fuzzy light grew clearer and larger and she heard voices around her.

"I think she's waking up!" said somepony. Uh, Pinkie Pie, Rarity thought.

"Oh thank goodness, I was so worried!" said Fluttershy. Rarity's eyes opened completely and she saw her five friends, including Sweetie Belle and Spike, standing around her bed looking relieved.

"Hey, look who's awake!" said Twilight happily.

"Ubisdhbmrl," said Rarity weakly. It seemed coherent thoughts and sentences would have to wait for a little while.

"She's sure looking better than she was two days ago," said Rainbow Dash.

"Yes, she'll be just fine," said a doctor who walked in. "She'll be pleased to know that they arrested the taxi driver who ran her over. It turns out that he was spectacularly drunk." Rarity was not pleased to know this because she couldn't very well murder somepony in a police station. She pushed that aside for now and tried once more with the whole talking thing.

"Uh," she said. Dang it, no good. Rarity scanned the room once more. She saw that Applejack was sitting in the corner of the room away from the rest of the group. She was crying. Wait, why was she crying? She was going to be just fine according to the doctors.

"When will she be up and about again?" asked Twilight. The doctor scanned a chart.

'Well, she has several large gashes all over her body, two broken ribs, a compound fracture in her right foreleg and a clean break in her left. There is heavy bruising all over her body and she also sustained a severe concussion from the injury so I'd say at least a month before she completely heals. I can't say for sure when she'll be out of here though." Twilight nodded.

"When will she be up and about again?" asked Twilight once more. The doctor raised an eyebrow as did everypony else in the room with the exception of Sweetie Belle who just stared blankly at Rarity.

"Uh, I just told you, at least a month," said the confused doctor. Twilight nodded.

"When will she be up and about again?" asked Twilight.

"Uh, I'll be right back," said the doctor who quickly left the room. Twilight frowned and turned to her very unsettled friends.

"I guess he needed some more information," said Twilight. "Although, that doesn't make sense! He had her chart with him the whole time!"

"Uh Twilight," said Rainbow Dash. "Why did you ask him three times when Rarity would be up and about again?" Twilight raised an eyebrow.

"Rainbow Dash, I only asked him once and he left the room. I think I would remember asking him three times, Fluttershy." Fluttershy looked curiously at Twilight while Rainbow Dash looked slightly annoyed.

"Twilight, my name is Rainbow Dash, thank you very much." Twilight put her hoof to her face and rubbed her temples.

"Oh, yeah. I know that," said Twilight.

"Say Twilight, when's the last time you got any sleep?" asked Pinkie Pie worriedly.

"I think I got a full seven hours last night," she said. Spike nodded.

"It's true, she was in bed by 12:00." Rarity watched this exchange with a feeling of growing dread. The doctor seemed to realize what was happening to Twilight. However, what unsettled Rarity the most was the fact that Sweetie Belle just kept giving her that blank stare. She didn't even blink.

Within a few more minutes, the doctor walked in. "Miss Sparkle, I'm going to have to ask you to come with me. I think you may have been on the wrong end of a 'forget' spell. We-" but before the doctor could continue, Sweetie Belle let out an ear splitting shriek.

"Rarity! What happened to Rarity! Why is she in the hospital!?" she said frantically before frowning. "Come to think of it, I don't remember coming here either." The doctor's eyes widened. He turned to Applejack and Rainbow Dash.

"Can you get her to come with me too? There isn't a minute to lose!" he said. Applejack and Rainbow Dash escorted a very confused Sweetie Belle out of the room. No! They would reverse the spell and then everypony would know!

"Unguh!" said Rarity frantically. Pinkie and Fluttershy looked at each other went over to Rarity and began stroking her mane.

"Shh, it's okay. I'm sure that both Twilight and Sweetie Belle are just fine," said Fluttershy reassuringly.

I know, thought Rarity But I won't be.

After a few minutes of watching Fluttershy stroke her mane comfortingly, Rarity's body felt that it had had quite enough excitement for now and Rarity closed her eyes and went to sleep.

Rarity awoke some time later to see that her room was dark. it must be nighttime. She groaned and looked around. There didn't seem to be anypony around.

"Good your awake," said a cold, unforgiving voice. Well, so much for that theory. Rarity turned her head to see Twilight sitting in a chair next to her bed.

"Twilight," said Rarity weakly.

"They fixed up me and Sweetie Belle. Her memory had almost deteriorated to the point of no return Rarity. The memory spell completely knocked her out and she's in the bed next to you." With a great deal of effort, Rarity turned her head to see Sweetie Belle sleeping peacefully in the bed next to hers with an oxygen mask over her face and an IV in her right foreleg. She turned back to Twilight.

"Didn't...mean to...bad memory spell," said Rarity.

"Why should I believe you murderer?" asked Twilight coldly.

"Never...do anything...to hurt any...of...you," said Rarity, a single tear running down her cheek. Seeing the tear, Twilight softened ever so slightly.

"The only reasons that I didn't tell Princess Celestia to pull the plug on you the second I remembered what you are is because of our friends and because you wield an Element of Harmony. The Elements chose you for a reason that I can't explain right now. If it weren't for that Rarity, you would be long dead," said Twilight.

"Rather...be dead than...hurt you girls," said Rarity. Twilight sighed in frustration and Rarity saw her begin to cry.

"How did I let this happen?" she asked. "Why did I let you do that to me?" Rarity didn't have an answer. Twilight sat in silence for a few moments, tears streaming down her face. "I'm not going to tell Princess Celestia right now. I'm going to wait for you to recover and then you are going to explain everything to me. You will answer every question that I have, is that clear?" Rarity nodded. "I'm also going to erase the memory that Sweetie Belle has of killing Scarlet Tomato. She'll remember it as you doing it."

"Thank...you. It's...more than I...deserve," said Rarity. Twilight glared at her.

"Yeah, I know," she said coldly before walking out of the room.


	15. Speak No Evil

It had been a week since Twilight's conversation with Rarity and she had not seen Twilight since then. Sweetie Belle had been discharged from the hospital a few days after that. Rarity had watched her go, sure that she would tell somepony as soon as she had gotten out of the hospital. Luckily for Rarity, she hadn't said anything to anypony the entire time she was there although, because of that she was ordered to have three therapy sessions once she was discharged.

As Rarity's eyes had followed Sweetie Belle as she was escorted out of the hospital by Applejack and Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle turned back to Rarity, their eyes meeting for a brief moment before Sweetie Belle crossed herself and put a hoof over her eye. Tears had fallen from Rarity's eyes at seeing this, but Sweetie Belle had walked out of the room without a word.

With the exception of Twilight, Rarity's friends had come to visit her in the hospital as often as they could. Fluttershy's visits were a tad awkward as they usually were mostly silent following the greetings. Rarity still found it a pain to talk early on and seeing how Fluttershy rarely talked in situations like this anyway, there really wasn't too much that was said.

Pinkie's visits more than made up for that at any rate as she would talk Rarity's ears off whenever she got the chance. Rarity didn't mind that too much. Pinkie usually had interesting things to say and Rarity was glad for the distractions. However, what she was mildly annoyed at what the sheer volume of treats that Pinkie would bring for Rarity, despite the fact that Rarity was hardly strong enough to chew solid food yet. Still, the little nibbles of the cupcakes that Pinkie had a habit of bringing were delicious and she did enjoy sharing them with the doctors who came by to help her as well as the other ponies that came in to visit her.

Rainbow Dash always popped in briefly whenever she passed by the hospital, if only for a few minutes sometimes, to check on how Rarity was doing. Rarity would weakly respond to whatever Rainbow would talk to her about before Rainbow would take a couple cupcakes and be off.

Of all of them though, the one pony who was by her bedside as often as possible was Applejack. Rarity's near-death experience hit Applejack the hardest of all and everypony knew why. To see Rarity, the pony who had been there for her to help her though the night that her parents had died, in the same situation that her parents were in was absolutely devastating for Applejack. She had told the doctors to immediately notify her for any changes in Rarity's condition, good or bad and whenever they didn't follow up on it, Applejack was by her side as soon as she could get to the hospital.

Rarity understood Applejack's concern for her but she felt that she didn't deserve it. She had nearly murdered Applejack the night that her parents had died but Applejack still appreciated what Rarity had done for her that night more than anything. Every moment of free time that Applejack had was spent by Rarity's side, making sure that she was as comfortable as possible. It tore Rarity apart inside to see Applejack this way, but she accepted her help and support just the same. It was moments like these that made Rarity realize that despite the fact that the two of them would butt heads occasionally, Applejack cared for Rarity like she was kin, a feeling that Rarity reciprocated.

On this particular day, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash were visiting her. It was a bright and happy Saturday morning and everypony was out enjoying the sunshine. The weather did not reflect the mood in the room though.

"How are you feelin' today sugar cube?" asked Applejack.

"Oh, well you know I am still in a lot of pain, my ribs and legs especially but I'm doing better. My cuts and bruises are beginning to heal up and they're talking about taking out the stitches in the ones on by back leg and back," said Rarity. Speaking wasn't a pain anymore but she still didn't have the vibrancy that she used to.

"That's good," said Rainbow Dash, trying to sound as happy and upbeat as she could be.

"Yeah!' said Pinkie Pie. "When you do, I'm gonna have to make you some of my super special 'hooray I just got the stitches out of those nasty gashes on by back and leg' cupcakes!" Rainbow Dash gave her a look of disbelief.

"Do you have cupcakes for everything?" she asked.

"Yes indeedy doo!" said Pinkie. "That's the wonderful thing about cupcakes! They can be used for just about any situation!"

"Clearly," said the amused Pegasus.

"Well, thank you Pinkie Pie," said Rarity, giving her friend a smile. "I know that you've all sacrificed so much to help me through this time of hardship." Pinkie Pie merely widened her usual grin.

"Aw, not really. I mean, what are friends for anyway?" said Pinkie.

"I wonder sometimes if I deserve friends like you," said Rarity quietly. Rainbow Dash looked at Rarity quizzically.

"Why in Equestria wouldn't you deserve friends like us?" she asked.

"Well, you do so much for me and sometimes I feel that I don't feel that I always reciprocate it very well," she said.

"You're a perfectly wonderful friend sugar cube and we wouldn't trade you as a friend no matter what you do," said Applejack.

"No matter what?" asked Rarity.

"No matter what," said Rainbow smiling at Rarity.

"Even if I did some truly terrible things in my life?" she asked.

"No matter what means no matter what," said Pinkie Pie.

'So you're saying that if I burned down a house or destroyed something special to you out of anger or even murdered another pony you'd still love me like family?" she asked. The three other ponies looked at each other confusedly, wondering what had brought this on. Rarity caught on to the confusion and adjusted her track a bit. "I'm sorry, it's just with everything that's happened I've been thinking a lot about my life and how I almost lost it, how I almost lost you, and I've just been wondering if I deserve the wonderful things that I have."

Her three friends gave her reassuring smiles. "We would stick by you if you burned down a house," said Rainbow Dash.

"Or destroyed something super-duper special of ours out of anger," said Pinkie Pie with a nod.

"Even if you did kill another pony we would. We know you, you'd only ever hurt another pony if that pony tried to hurt us and we know that you'd still be torn up about it later. Besides, we all know that if we did those things, you'd stick by us until the end of time," said Applejack. Rarity's eyes filled with tears. She still knew that they would abandon her if they found out what she really was. They wouldn't care if she did it to protect them; they'd still be beyond disgusted with her for what she did, and with themselves for having anything to do with her. But, she'd let them believe that she was a good pony for now. She knew that Twilight would turn her in after their upcoming conversation. But for now, she could pretend that nothing was wrong and that nothing would ever come between them.

After another week of painful recovery, Rarity was released from the hospital. Her bruises were nearly gone and her gashes had mostly healed up. The doctors had done very well with their work and thus the gashes would hardly leave any scars, even the large one on her back. It was the best news that she could have gotten out of the situation. Her two front legs would have to be kept in casts for another month at least, but Rarity still had her magic to design and make dresses.

True to form, Pinkie Pie threw Rarity the largest 'hooray you're home get well soon we missed you so much while you were in the hospital we're so glad your back' party that Rarity had ever seen. A large portion of Ponyville was there to celebrate her return. Rarity had cried tears of joy when Applejack had wheeled her into the main room of her home (Rarity couldn't walk on her legs so a wheelchair was necessary for her while her legs healed) and all of her friends had popped out of hiding spots to welcome her back. To Rarity's surprise, even Twilight was there and she looked happy despite herself. Rarity surmised that this was more because of the fact that being sad at a Pinkie Pie party was just flat out impossible as opposed to the fact that Rarity was out of the hospital.

The party turned out to be an absolute blast as per usual. The food that Pinkie and the Cakes had made was delicious, the music was fun and even though Rarity couldn't dance in her current state, she still loved watching them all having fun. The mere idea that they would come out to support her in this time of hardship was overwhelming for her. She knew full well that she deserved none of this and that every single pony in the room would turn their backs on her the second they found out what she was.

It was during the party, when everypony was dancing to one of the songs playing that for the first time in her life Rarity regretted being a serial killer. She had become good at wearing masks of emotion over the years, and right now she was having the hardest time keeping her mask of happiness on. Everypony in the room was happy for her, happy that she was okay, happy that she was alive and among them again. She felt that her mere existence was an insult to these innocent ponies.

The party guests had all lined up to sign her casts. They had all put loving sentences or just their signatures to show their support. Rarity had to convince Pinkie Pie to restrain herself from signing the casts for a fifth time or else there wouldn't be room for anypony else. To Rarity's surprise, Twilight came up to her and scribbled her name on one of the casts too, although she walked away before Rarity really had a chance to talk to her. Everything in Twilight's demeanor suggested that tonight would be the time where she would talk to Rarity about...that.

The party ended after a long while. The cake was devoured and Rarity had hardly any leftover food to store in her fridge, something that would hardly be a problem as the ponies of Ponyville had a habit of making dinners for ponies that were sick or had been injured like she had been. She could expect a long line of ponies waiting to give her meals for quite a while, most likely headed by Pinkie Pie and the Cake family.

Rarity glanced outside the window as she put the last leftover dish inside her fridge. It was dark now, probably about 9:30 at night. Sweetie Belle had gone up to bed at around 8:00, while the party was still going on. Not even Apple Bloom and Scootaloo had been able to get her to talk much, and Rarity knew that Sweetie Belle was the most full of life when around her friends, The Cutie Mark Crusaders they called themselves.

Rarity used her magic to wheel herself into the main room towards a makeshift room had been made for her in her workroom. It would have to do for now until she could figure out a way to get up stairs. As she wheeled herself towards it, she heard the door to her house open up to her right. Rarity knew who it was without even looking but she looked anyway. Twilight Sparkle stood in her doorway, looking blankly at Rarity, almost as if she couldn't decide which emotion to feel at that moment. "Hello Twilight," said Rarity nervously.

"Hello Rarity," replied Twilight.

"I suppose you are here for our agreed talk, yes?" asked Rarity. Twilight nodded.

"I am. First, though, I want you to show me your room. I know it's here somewhere so show me." Rarity bit her lip slightly.

"Twilight I-"

"You said everything Rarity; you said you would tell me everything! Right now, I want to know where you take ponies to butcher them okay!?" said Twilight angrily. Rarity sighed.

"Follow me," she said.

Rarity wheeled herself over to the closet and opened the door. She used her magic to play the musical key, which she had changed to "Giggle at the Ghosties" after the events with Sweetie Belle. Twilight flinched a bit when the door opened, but resolutely looked down the staircase, waiting to go down. Rarity pointed down the staircase. "It's down there Twilight, I'd go but-" Twilight used her magic and picked Rarity up and carried her down the stairs. Rarity would have protested this rough treatment under any other circumstances, but Twilight was not to be trifled with right now.

When they reached the bottom of the steps and entered the basement, Twilight saw Rarity's table and placed Rarity down onto it. After examining the table for a brief moment, she used her magic to strap Rarity in and put the table vertically. "Uh, Twilight, what are you doing?" asked Rarity who was growing very scared.

"Don't worry, I just want to keep you there while I look around," said Twilight who had turned her attention to the poster and was reading it.

"Oh...yes of course," said Rarity who highly doubted what Twilight was saying.

After Twilight read the poster on the wall, she turned her attention to Rarity's collection of pony hides. She turned the table so Rarity could look at it as well. "Who do I know here?" she asked. "I figure that the one with feathers is Gilda, but who are some of these other ones?"

"Well, the one with paint on it is Trixie," said Rarity. "The hooves belong to Janice who worked at the Post Office." Twilight nodded and held up a hoof to stem any further explanation from Rarity. Rarity was unsure of what to think about Twilight's calm demeanor until she looked at Twilight's legs. They were shaking as if it was a great effort keeping Twilight from collapsing. It was only really noticeable if one was examining her legs but Twilight was clearly disturbed by everything she was seeing.

"How do you generally do it?" she asked.

"The workbench over there, there is a button underneath it. Press it and you'll see how," said Rarity. Twilight nodded and used her magic to turn the table to face the workbench. Twilight spent a brief moment examining the workbench, feeling around for the button, before the top popped open revealing Rarity's extensive collection of knives. Twilight's eyes widened with horror as she doubtlessly imagined all of the ways that Rarity had killed using these.

"You like to draw it out," she said softly.

'Well, yes," said Rarity.

"How many?" asked Twilight.

"Seventy-four ponies, one griffin and twenty Diamond Dogs." Twilight turned back to Rarity with an interested look.

"You killed the Diamond Dogs who ponynapped you?" she asked.

"That's what I was coming back from doing when I got hit by the taxi. Not all of the gashes are from being hit. The one on my back and the one on my right hind leg are both from the Diamond Dogs," said Rarity. A look of disbelief spread across Twilight's face.

"Are you telling me that you went underground, faced twenty Diamond Dogs at once and won!?" she asked.

"Well, I had killed two when they had taken me originally and I slit the throat of a solitary guard when I was traveling towards their main hall, but I fought seventeen at once and won, yes." Twilight kept her expression of disbelief for a few more minutes before turning back to the knives.

"How often do you do this?" she asked, picking up and examining individual knives before returning them to their spots.

"Whenever I feel I need to," said Rarity simply. Twilight nodded and used her magic to turn the table back to its original position.

Rarity heard Twilight continue to examine the individual knives that Rarity had collected in silence. Within a few seconds, Rarity heard a noise that made her eyes widen with fear.

Tink

It was the sound of one of her knives being put on the tray. "Uh, Twilight darling, would you mind asking me what you are doing?" she asked, trying to keep her rising terror out of her voice.

Tink

"Twilight, I know that this is upsetting for you, but let's not do anything rash, yes?" said Rarity, giving a nervous laugh. Surely Twilight wasn't going to...

Tink

Or was she? Why else would she be putting knives onto the tray?

Tink

Rarity tried to struggle out of the straps, but the pain in her forelegs was still too great. The bulky casts prevented too much movement at any rate. Twilight would know if she tried to use her magic.

Tink

Tears began to fall down Rarity's face. "Please Twilight, just talk to me about this! Don't become like me Twilight, I never want anypony in the world to be like me! Put the knives back and we can have a conversation like civilized ponies," said Rarity desperately. Twilight silently got up and wheeled the tray in front of Rarity. Placed on it were the largest knives that Rarity owned. IN the right hooves, they would inflict serious pain. Rarity looked at Twilight in horror. Twilight's look was one of grim determination. "Please don't do this," said rarity pathetically. Twilight merely pointed at the poster behind her before lifting up one of the knives and advancing slowly towards Rarity.

A scream echoed throughout Carousel Boutique.


	16. Near Dark

Rarity screamed once more. Was this really how it was going to end? Was Twilight really going to kill her as a sort of ironic vigilante way? Rarity didn't want Twilight to be like her, she couldn't become like her!

She continued to try to struggle out of the straps as Twilight came closer with the knife. When she got close enough, she looked Rarity directly in the eye. "Goodbye, murderer," she said simply and raised the knife high. Rarity squealed in terror and shut her eyes, hoping that Twilight would at least make it quick.

"NO!" said a voice from behind them. Twilight turned around and Rarity opened her eyes in time to see Sweetie Belle run towards Rarity, pushing over the tray so she could grab one of the smaller knives. She placed herself between Twilight and Rarity, pointing the knife towards Twilight in an effort to keep her away from her helpless sister. It was a pointless effort because if Twilight truly did want to kill Rarity, she would just use her magic to shove her aside. As it was though, Twilight looked like she was about to cry. "NO, I won't let you hurt my sister!" said Sweetie Belle defiantly. "She may be a killer but she is still my sister and the only one that I have. She'd do anything to protect me and she'd do anything to protect you! You don't have the right to just butcher her like an animal Twilight!" Twilight actually did begin to cry at that moment.

"I-I wasn't gonna kill her," she said taking a step towards Sweetie Belle. Sweetie Belle flinched back for a moment but recovered and lunged forward with the knife. Twilight managed to dodge back fast enough that she was only received a slight cut on her knee. Twilight gave a small gasp of pain. "No, I wasn't going to hurt her at all!"

"Then why is she trapped down and why were you standing over her holding a knife!?" asked Sweetie Belle accusingly.

"I just wanted her to know how it feels for the ponies she kills!" said Twilight. "I wanted her to experience what it is like being strapped down to her table, knowing that these are your last moments and that they'll be spent in excruciating agony. I just wanted her to know what she's done!" Sweetie Belle paused at this and looked less sure of herself. She lowered the knife at any rate. Twilight used her magic to put the tray upright and she put her knife back on it. "Wasn't gonna hurt her," mumbled Twilight sadly.

At that moment, Rarity felt the straps holding her down loosen and she felt herself being carried back up the stairs by Twilight. When they reached the top, Twilight placed Rarity back into her wheelchair and once Sweetie Belle had left the basement, she shut the door behind her.

Twilight wheeled Rarity into the middle of the room before turning back to Sweetie Belle. "I'm not gonna hurt your sister Sweetie Belle. I Pinkie Promise that I will not hurt her. However, I'm going to have to take her back to my house with me because there are just certain things that I have to know," said Twilight. Sweetie Belle began to cry.

"Don't hurt her, please don't ever hurt her," she said through her tears. Twilight sighed and wheeled Rarity out the door leaving a crying Sweetie Belle alone in the house.

The journey back to Twilight's house was a silent one. Rarity was still slightly getting over the shock of being strapped down to her table with Twilight seemingly about to kill her.

They got some odd looks from the few ponies that they came across as they approached Twilight's house but other than that their journey was uneventful.

When they reached Twilight's house, Spike was already fast asleep in his basket so both of them knew that they wouldn't be disturbed with whatever Twilight was planning. Twilight used her magic to lift Rarity and her wheelchair into the air and she moved Rarity into her basement where she had the memory machine waiting.

"Twilight, what's going on?" asked Rarity, hoping that Twilight wouldn't force herself to watch all of Rarity's kills. Twilight was silent for a moment while she placed the headband on Rarity's head.

"Is there a specific memory or time period that made you be this way?" she asked. Rarity nodded.

"My first day of school. I had never had any desire to hurt anypony for any reason whatsoever before that. But after that day...well, after that day I had three kills to my name," said Rarity. Twilight asked Rarity which date she was referring to and Rarity told her prompting Twilight to type it into the memory machine. Rarity felt a tingle as the memory machine fired up and the memory began playing. Rarity directed Twilight to specific moments and Twilight made the necessary adjustments to play those times.

Rarity and Twilight watched in silence as Rarity's second worst memory began to play on the view screen. There were Dug, Kicker and Annie once again tormenting her in the schoolyard. There was filly Cheerilee standing up for her. Now Rarity was in her creek, trying to stop the bullies from tainting her land. There was the rock that would be her first murder weapon; there she was smashing Dug's head in, killing Kicker, burying Annie alive.

It was after that last one that Twilight shut the machine off. She turned back to Rarity and she saw that Twilight was crying. "I had no idea," she said through her tears.

"I know that doesn't justify what I am," said Rarity.

"You mean who you are?" said Twilight.

"No, what I am. I'm a monster Twilight. I've known that I was a monster and would forever be one ever since I was scooping dirt back into a hole containing a dying filly," said Rarity. "I don't deserve to live and I know that you have to turn me in. I appreciate you erasing Sweetie Belle's memory of committing a murder herself, but as for me, do what you must." Twilight continued looking at Rarity. Rarity knew that the gears in Twilight's head were turning, trying to decide exactly what to do.

"I don't think that you are a monster Rarity. Your urges to murder are the unfortunate product of a terrible thing that happened to you," said Twilight. "And if I know anything about the Elements of Harmony, it's that they don't choose a wielder lightly. They know what they are doing; they see something inside of you, some good trait that makes the Element of Generosity drawn to you. The Elements of Harmony would never choose a true monster to wield them."

"But they did!" said Rarity. Do you have any idea of what I have done? I am an evil being beyond saving! Princess Celestia would strike me down where I stood if she ever found out!" Rarity sighed and looked down. "And I know that you have to tell her. In all honesty Twilight, I won't stop killing until I am ended myself. I do not kill the innocent anymore, but there is nothing that I can do about what I am. You should go tell her now Twilight, my family and our friends will suffer with the knowledge that they accepted a psychopath into their lives but time will heal those wounds to the point that they can live life again." Twilight silently pondered this.

"You only kill to protect?" she asked.

"Ever since I met you girls, yes. Before that I killed for fun or for petty reasons that wouldn't have mattered if I had just left them alone. I never want you girls to experience what I had to. I mean, look at how I turned out," said Rarity. Twilight nodded.

"I don't know if I can let you keep going. I don't want anypony to die because you feel that it is your duty to protect us from the bad things of this world. I don't want anypony to die. I didn't wish death upon Gilda or Trixie for the way that they acted, but they got it anyway at your hooves," said Twilight.

"So are you going to tell Princess Celestia?" asked Rarity. Twilight shook her head.

"No, but I have to tell somepony about this," said Twilight and oddly enough, a small smile stretched across her face. "And I think I know just the pony to tell. Wait right here." Twilight left the basement and was gone for about twenty minutes. Each of those minutes seemed to be an eternity for Rarity but eventually Twilight did come back down. "Okay, she should be here very soon," said Twilight.

"Who did you contact?" asked Rarity.

"You'll know when she comes," said Twilight simply. Rarity ground her teeth together slightly. Twilight was annoying when she did that.

After about twenty more minutes, that Twilight spent giving Rarity a tutorial of the memory machine, they heard the door to Twilight's house open. They heard hoofsteps growing steadily louder as this mystery pony approached the basement door. Rarity turned her wheelchair around just in time to see the last pony she expected to see walk through the basement door.


	17. Eclipsed

Rarity turned to Twilight, a confused look on her face. "Her? Why did you ask her to come here?" she asked.

"I just wanted to tell somepony that I would trust not to run off to Celestia because she had been in a similar situation before," said Twilight.

"Twilight Sparkle, what is the meaning of this meeting thou have brought Us to?" asked Princess Luna. Twilight looked at Luna and then back to Rarity.

"Well, I think that it is Rarity's place to tell you what is going on. However, you have to promise us that you will not tell Celestia, or indeed anypony, what Rarity has to tell you,"

"We promise," said Luna with a nod.

"Pinkie Promise?" said Rarity. Luna raised an eyebrow and looked at Rarity confusedly.

"What is this 'Pinkie Promise' of which you speak?" she asked. Twilight gave a small grin.

"It's basically an unbreakable promise. To break it means terrible things," said Twilight. "To make a Pinkie Promise, you just have to say 'cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye' and you do these motions." Luna looked at the two of them like they were insane but nodded all the same.

"Very well Rarity, cross my heart and hope to fly stick a cupcake in my eye," she said while doing the motions. "Now, what is the issue that thou have called Us here to discuss?" Rarity looked at the expectant Luna, her mind willing her to tell Luna what was wrong. Silence filled the room as Rarity began working up the nerve to tell a royal princess her deepest, darkest secret in the whole world and that was something that she had always known would mean instant death for her.

"I...I'm a serial killer," said Rarity finally. Luna took a small step back and a look of uncertainty crossed her face.

"Is this some sort of jest that the two of you have created for the purpose of 'fun'? Because We do not find this very amusing Twilight Sparkle," said Luna.

"No, this is no joke. I have been killing ponies ever since I was eight years old," said Rarity.

"Why...why do you tell Us these things?" asked Luna. Rarity and Twilight detected something strange in Luna, was it...fear?

"I found out about it not long after her filly sister did. I had to tell somepony and I knew that Celestia would execute Rarity for it. We figured..."

"You figured that because We were Nightmare Moon that We would have a greater understanding for the situation than 'Tia would?" said Luna. "Do you outdo The Canterlot Killer?" Rarity nodded.

"More than four times over," she said with a hint of pride despite herself. Luna nodded.

"Why did thou not turn her in to 'Tia Twilight Sparkle?" she asked. Twilight gave a heavy sigh and looked at the floor.

"Because whatever else she may be, Rarity is my friend and I know that she would never do anything to hurt me or my other friends. She told me herself that she only kills these days to protect us and I just...didn't have the nerve to let Princess Celestia kill her," said Twilight. Luna nodded.

"It is true dear Rarity that We have fought internal darkness. We have brought death and destruction to ponies all over Equestria. We know what it is like to see a pony die by your hooves. However, We are not sure what thou wish for Us to do Twilight Sparkle. Do you wish Us to try to heal the darkness inside of your friend? Do you wish for Us to plead her case to 'Tia? What was the purpose of this meeting?"

"Well, what do you think would be the best option?"

"We see no other way to do this than to tell 'Tia. Actions have consequences dear Rarity and if yours is death then so be it," said Luna simply. Rarity began to feel cornered.

"No! I don't want to die! Think of my friends, think of my family! Besides, I wield an Element of Harmony, what would that do?" she said desperately. Luna mulled this over.

"It is true that thou does wield an Element of Harmony and that does complicate matters. We wielded the Elements at one time and We know that they do not choose their holders lightly," said Luna.

"So what do we do?" asked Twilight.

"If thou do not want to see the end of your friend, We think we have an idea. It may or may not come to fruition but it is something that we can try if thou want to."

"What is it?" asked Rarity excitedly.

"Well, We feel that if the Elements of Harmony were able to cleanse us of our inner demons, then perhaps they could also cleanse you of yours dear Rarity," said Luna. "We could call the other wielders to Canterlot and have them use the Elements to take away the darkness that drives your actions."

"But who is going to wield the Element of Generosity?" asked Twilight.

"While the hold that my sister and I have over the Elements of Harmony is diminishing, it is not completely gone yet. We can still wield them on some level and We think that we can pull this off. However, we must hurry lest 'Tia finds out about our deeds. We do not wish to discover the consequences that our actions may bring upon us." Twilight and Rarity nodded and within a few minutes they were off to collect their friends.

Applejack was fast asleep in her home, dreaming about apple bucking her way through the orchards or Red Delicious apples (a common dream for her) and recharging from the long day of doing just that and a Pinkie Pie party. Suddenly, she heard a knock on the door and she was pulled out of dreamland.

"Whozzere?" she said sleepily, trying to will her exhausted body out of bed.

"It's me, Twilight," said the voice behind her bedroom door.

"Twilight?" she said as she rolled out of bed and went towards the door. "What 'r you doin' here?" She opened the door and saw a sight that instantly sapped all fatigue from her body. Standing in front of here were Twilight, Rarity, and Princess Luna.. Applejack gave a yelp at the last one and backed away slowly into her room.

"Applejack, we need your help!" said Twilight desperately. "Something terrible has happened and we need to get to the Elements of Harmony right away!" Applejack stopped backing away and looked at Twilight worriedly.

"Uh, the Elements of Harmony?" she said, "Does it have anythin' to do with her?" said Applejack, pointing at Luna. Twilight shook her head.

"No, in fact, it was her idea. We have to get to Canterlot as soon as possible!" said Twilight.

"Would you mind explainin' why in the hay we need to go to Canterlot during the middle of the night to wield the Elements of Harmony?" asked Applejack crossly. Twilight and Rarity looked at each other nervously.

"I'm afraid that we cannot tell you the details," said Rarity before looking away from Applejack. "All I can say is that something...something terrible is happening to me and we think that only the Elements of Harmony can heal me." Applejack softened at these words.

"That bad huh?" she said. Rarity nodded prompting a sigh from Applejack. "Alright then, if you don't feel that you can tell me then I'll trust that you have a good reason and that you'd never withhold information just to hurt me. Of course I'll go with you." Rarity smiled at her farmer friend.

"Thank you Applejack, you have no idea what this means to me," she said.

Collecting the rest of their friends was even easier than Applejack. True to form, Pinkie Pie had gotten really excited at the prospect of hanging out with her good friends and to her the fact that they would be sneaking around Canterlot at night just made the whole thing even more fun for her.

Rainbow was also very easy to convince. She had been awake when they had arrived and once Rarity told her that she needed her help, Rainbow didn't ask any more questions after Rarity told her to simply trust that they knew what was going on.

Fluttershy also was easy to convince. she was clearly frightened when Rarity and Twilight told her what was going on, not to mention the fact that Princess Luna was there, but she went with them all the same. So, the six friends boarded a train to Canterlot while Princess Luna went back in her chariot. Nopony said much in the beginning of the train ride, Twilight and Rarity because they were worried about taking the Elements of Harmony without Princess Celestia knowing and the others because of the unknown nature of their quest. Finally though, Applejack could stand the silence no longer.

"Now, would somepony explain what is goin' on here?" asked Applejack. "Why in the hay did you two and Princess Luna wake me up to go get the Elements?"

"Applejack, I know that you hate feeling out of the loop," said Twilight. "But you have to trust us. All we can tell you is that we need to use the Elements to heal Rarity from a bad thing inside of her." Applejack frowned at this but didn't press the issue any further.

"Well, I guess that Twilight knows what she is doing," said Rainbow Dash. "But I gotta admit it is a little frustrating not knowing what is going on."

"A little?" mumbled Applejack.

"Someday you will find out when the time is right," said Rarity prompting an incredulous look from Twilight.

"They will?" she asked.

"Yes," said Rarity simply. "As horrible as it will be for them, it is unfair not to tell them someday." Applejack seemed even more annoyed at this.

"I wish that I could trade Elements with one of y'all right now so that one of you could give me the honest truth about what's goin' on here!" she said irritatedly.

"Do you trust us?" asked Twilight. Applejack sighed.

"Yes, I do," she said.

Within a few more hours, the seven of them arrived in Canterlot. They were met at the train station by Princess Luna and a pair of Lunar Guards who led the six friends toward the hall that housed the Elements. Twilight used her magic to move Rarity's wheelchair.

The streets of Canterlot were silent in the dead of night. It was socially unacceptable for ponies of any status at all to be seen wandering the streets at night so everypony was secure in their beds. Every now and again they would run into more Lunar Guards, but seeing Princess Luna with the six ensured that they did not question what the six were doing wandering around Canterlot late at night.

Finally, they reached the hall where the Elements of Harmony were being housed. To their surprise, they found that the hall was being guarded by a trio of Celestia's elite guards. Luna, however, was not phased by this and she approached them.

"We must enter this chamber," she said. "You will let us pass." the guards did not move but instead one replied,

"We cannot do that Princess Luna. Princess Celestia herself has ordered that nopony can gain access into this hallway without her personal authority. Luna glared at them.

"Is Our authority not enough? Is it not enough that We have brought the wielders of the Elements of Harmony with Us? Our cause is just and you cannot stop our entry into this hallway!" said Luna angrily. The guards stood fast but looked at each other uneasily.

"You wouldn't dare attack us. Celestia would banish you to the moon again if you did that," said the lead guard. Luna's anger rose to unreasonable levels.

"THOU WOULD DO WELL TO NOT SPEAK OF THAT EVENT! WE COMMAND THAT YOU LET US IN!" she said in her Royal Canterlot Voice. The guard shook his head and stood firm. With a yell of anger, Luna's horn shone brightly and she fired a beam of pure energy that engulfed the guards. Within seconds, the only indication that they had been standing there were scorch marks on the ground where they had been.

"Princess Luna what have you done!?" said Twilight.

"Do not worry Twilight Sparkle, We have merely teleported them to another part of the castle. However, we must hurry for they shall be quick to tell Our sister what has happened here tonight," said Luna.

Luna used her magic to open the giant doors that led into the hall where the Elements were kept. At the end of the hallway was another doorway which they all surmised opened to reveal the Elements. Twilight sensed the powerful magic protecting the door and turned to Luna.

"Are you sure you can get in there?" asked Twilight. Princess Luna rolled her eyes.

"As strong as 'Tia is, she does not actually have the amount of power that she thinks she does. 'Tia keeps saying that only she can break the spell that holds this door shut but really, We have strong magic of Our own Twilight Sparkle," said Luna. Luna slid her horn into the hole in the door and used her magic to unlock the door. The doors swung open revealing a large, ornate case which Luna brought over to the six friends. "Now then, you all must wield your Elements to cleanse your friend. We will wield Rarity's. However, we must hurry, I sense that 'Tia is on her way even as we speak."

Luna opened the box and gave the Elements to their respective ponies, taking Rarity's for herself. She nodded to Twilight who began charging her Element. All at once, the Elements of Harmony began to fire up and each of the ponies in front of Rarity was engulfed in a bright light. Rarity took a frightened step back. So this is what Nightmare Moon felt when they had stopped her with the Elements. As the light became brighter, beams began to shoot out of the cutie-mark shaped gems that adorned the necklaces and tiara that made up the Elements of Harmony. The beams combined to make one rainbow beam that suddenly shot itself directly towards Rarity. She gave a squeal of fear as the beam enveloped her.

All at once, time seemed to stop for Rarity. Her mind was filled with visions of all of the ponies that she had killed. Her mind was sent back to her first kills and she re-watched the events for the second time that night. However, this time the memory became a little fuzzy as she was watching it. It slowly began to fade away as if it had never happened. In fact, all of the memories that were shown seemed to fade away into nothingness once they were shown. Rarity felt all of the angry feelings inside of her fade away, all of the urges to kill even to protect her friends were slowly going away. Rarity knew at that moment that everything was going to be okay. Twilight would forgive her, Sweetie Belle wouldn't be scarred for life at what she had seen and done. She didn't have to kill anymore! Princess Celestia wouldn't have to know about what she was...no, what she used to be.

All at once the light faded and the ponies were standing around looking expectantly at Rarity. "Did it work?" asked Twilight hopefully. Rarity examined her body, both inwardly and outwardly. To her surprise and joy, the Elements had actually healed her legs! She jumped off of the wheelchair and stood up. She examined herself inwardly, expecting to find any trace of the urge to kill that had driven her life for so long, but it was not there. Rarity's eyes began to fill with tears of joy and she pulled Twilight into a giant hug.

"Yes Twilight, I think it did!" she said. The rest of her friends gathered around her and Rarity pulled them into a hug as well. They didn't know why they were here, they were just glad that whatever had bothered their fired was gone. She would tell them why the events of tonight happened at all in their own time, but for now they could just relax knowing that it was all over.

Luna used her magic to put the Elements of Harmony back where they belonged. "We feel that thou must all go now before 'Tia finds out what has happened here," she said. Twilight nodded.

"Of course, thank you for everything," she said.

"She helped cleanse the darkness inside of us. We are overjoyed that we had the chance to return the favor," said Luna with a smile.

"PRINCESS LUNA, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE HERE!?" came a powerful voice that shook the hall. The seven of them turned to see a livid Princess Celestia standing in the doorway with three slightly singed guards behind her. Twilight flattened her ears. she had never heard Princess Celestia's Royal Canterlot Voice before, but its power and authority was far greater than Luna's could ever hope to be. Luna motioned the six friends to get behind her.

"Leave this to Us, Twilight Sparkle," she said grimly.

"I'm waiting for an answer Luna," said Celestia angrily. "Why did you attack my guards and steal the Elements of Harmony?"

"The Elements of Harmony are safe sister," said Luna. "They were not used for any nefarious purpose. We both know that by their very nature they cannot be used for ill deeds!"

"Then why did you not see fit to inform me that you wished to use them?" asked Celestia.

"It was none of your concern!" said Luna. "What they were needed for was the business of these six friends and myself!" Celestia looked at Luna incredulously for a brief moment before anger crossed her face once more.

"They are the Elements of Harmony Luna, it is ALWAYS my business what they are used for! Why did you not tell me that you needed them, I would have let you use them if the purpose was right!"

"Yes dear sister, the purpose was right. However, you did not need to know what need we had for them this night! We would have consulted you if We knew that you would not have pried into something that was not for you to know!"

"How do you know?" retorted Celestia. Luna gave a frustrated grunt.

"'Tia, you have been Our sister for many millennium. We know that you desire to know all that goes on in your kingdom, especially when objects of great power are involved. You would not have let us use the Elements until you knew why we needed them." said Luna.

"That's because it is my business to know why they are needed!" said Celestia.

"'Tia, by not telling you what we did tonight, we preserved the lives of these six that stand behind Us. If we had told you our purpose, and even if we tell you now, then the lives of one of these here would end within minutes. We did not tell you to protect the lives of one of the wielders," said Luna. Celestia raised an eyebrow at this and her anger seemed to fade away.

"I know you do not lie, we have known each other too long for you to successfully lie to me, but can't you at least give me some details about this?" said Celestia. Luna shook her head.

"To tell you anything would lead to the downfall of the wielders. Only two of them even know the full extent of what has transpired here tonight." Celestia looked at the six friends huddled together behind Luna. "I know that you have no reason to trust us with the Elements as we were once Nightmare Moon, but even if you do not trust Us, then trust your student Twilight Sparkle, who would most certainly never do anything to bring you any harm."

Celestia looked behind Luna at Twilight who was still shaken up form hearing her mentor's Royal Canterlot Voice. Celestia gave a frustrated sigh. "Very well, I will trust you for the sake of Twilight. They may go back to their homes tonight without incident. However," she said turning her attention back to Luna. "We are not quite finished with this conversation." To Rarity's utter surprise, Luna actually managed a smile at this.

"We know, but you are wasting your breath sister. We cannot tell you anything about this. We made what I believe Twilight Sparkle called a 'Pinkie Promise'. Or hooves are tied dear sister for this seems to be the most solemn of vows," said Luna. At this, Pinkie Pie spoke up.

"Yeah, nopony can ever break a Pinkie Promise, I mean, it's a Pinkie Promise!" she said. To everypony's surprise, Celestia seemed amused by this as well.

"Yes I am quite aware that there are certain ramifications to breaking a Pinkie Promise. Very well sister, do not see this matter as quite over yet, but we will discuss this further at a later date."

Celestia had allowed the friends to leave and return to Ponyville without incident as she had said. The train ride back was silent (mostly because the friends were still shocked by what they had witnessed, particularly Celestia's Royal Canterlot Voice) with nopony really making eye contact with the others. All of them were deep in thought at the events of that day, Twilight and Rarity in particular. It still hadn't quite sunk in yet that she was free. No more killing. No more hiding who she was from other ponies. she could live life as her friends did, innocent and pure. Yes the deaths that she had caused would never go away, but she was content with the fact that she wouldn't be causing any more.

The train reached Ponyville and the six friends parted ways. They had all felt tired after wielding the Elements of Harmony and they all felt that a good night's sleep was in order.

Rarity walked into Carousel Boutique with a spring in her step. She walked up to her room and plopped on her bed, wanting to fall asleep right away but she wasn't sure if she could. She was free! She no longer needed to kill anypony, she wouldn't have to hide who she was around her friends anymore!

...right?


	18. We're the World Famous FlimFlam Brothers

Rarity stepped back from her work after placing the final stitch in it. Oh how marvelous it looked, particularly when the rising moonlight hit it just right. Rarity felt that ever since she had been cleansed of her desire to kill by the Elements of Harmony, her work had gotten far better. She supposed that that was the result of being able to spend more time on it as opposed to having to devote some time to her murders.

Her life in general had also gotten much better. She was closer to Sweetie Belle than ever, even if it had taken a little while for her to trust Rarity again. She was even closer to her friends because she knew that she had nothing to hide from them anymore and so she could always be the real Rarity around them. Just like they said, they didn't ask any questions about what had happened that night and they trusted that Twilight and Rarity knew what was best for everypony involved.

Yes, the last eighteen months had been the best six months of Rarity's life, and she looked forward to much more happiness.

At that moment, Rarity heard a knock on her door. She placed her sewing kit down and opened it to see Pinkie Pie standing there with her usual trademark grin. "Oh, good evening Pinkie, how may I help you?" asked Rarity.

"Cider season starts tomorrow!" said Pinkie happily. Rarity copied Pinkie's smile.

"It does!?" she glanced at a nearby calendar. "You're right, it does!" she said bouncing happily in the air. Everypony in Ponyville looked forward to cider season. The Apple family made by far the best apple cider in all of Equestria and every year ponies would line up in droves for the chance to drink some.

"Yes, and I thought that it would be an awesome idea to camp out in front of their stand! I'm so excited for cider season that I can't even sleep so I thought that it would be awesome to have once super-duper it's almost cider season sleepover!"

"Why what a marvelous idea Pinkie Pie! I'll go get my tent right away!" said Rarity and soon the two of them were walking to Sweet Apple Acres, chatting away happily at the prospect of the cider that they would be able to drink tomorrow.

The duo was soon joined by Twilight and Spike who had tents, and looks of excitement, of their own.

"I see you've collected Rarity, Pinkie," said Twilight happily.

"Yes! I thought that the more ponies we had the more fun this sleepover would be!" said Pinkie.

"I totally agree, let's go get Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy!" said Rarity.

"Fluttershy has actually had a pretty long day. She had a lot to deal with during her work taking care of her animal friends. We should just let her sleep for now, I'm sure she'll get some cider just the same," said Pinkie.

"Very well, I suppose you are right. To Rainbow Dash's house then?"

"To Rainbow Dash's house!" said Twilight.

The four of them walked for a few minutes before reaching Rainbow Dash's house.

"Oh Rainbow Daaaaaash!" said Pinkie Pie. "We're going to go to Sweet Apple Acres to camp out before cider season starts!" The four of them heard a noise coming from inside Rainbow's house and within a few minutes, Rainbow Dash came out. Based on her demeanor, she was still mostly asleep.

"Waddya want Pinkie?" mumbled Rainbow.

"We're going to go camp out at Sweet Apple Acres do we can be there when cider season starts! Do you wanna come?"

"It's too late for a party Pinkie Pie, I'm going back to bed," said Rainbow Dash sleepily.

"Wait, this isn't a party it's a...sleepover," said Pinkie but it was too late, Rainbow Dash had already gone back inside her home and shut the door. The four of them looked at each other and shrugged.

They walked directly to Sweet Apple Acres now, stopping only to explain to the ponies that they ran into what they were doing. To Pinkie's utter delight, most of the ponies that they ran into seemed just as excited about the idea of camping out in front of Sweet Apple Acres as she was and soon a line of ponies with tents and sleeping bags had formed behind Pinkie, Rarity, Spike, and Twilight.

When the mob of ponies reached Sweet Apple Acres, there was a mad dash for positions in line and all was chaos for a while. Somehow Pinkie had managed to set up her tent in the very first spot before the madness had even started so it was a mad dash for second place in line. However, as the mad dash died down, Rarity found herself behind Twilight and Spike in line. However, she could still see the apple cider stand fairly well and thus she knew that she would be sure to receive some cider come morning.

Rarity set up her tent behind Twilight and got in to settle down for the night. Before she could, Twilight poked her head out of her tent. "Psst, Rarity! Are you asleep yet?" said Twilight excitedly.

"Not yet," said Rarity. "I just got into my tent but I don't know if I could at any rate. I'm so excited for cider season!"

"Me too, it's my first one since coming here from Canterlot! I'd heard occasional rumors from the occasional traveler who came to Canterlot about cider season here and now I'm just half a day away from my very first one!" said Twilight. The two talked for a few more hours about what the cider would be like before they both agreed that sleep was in order as both of the had much to do the following day and they didn't want to be tired out on account of cider season.

Rarity curled up snugly in her sleeping bag and slowly drifted off to dreamland.

Before she knew it, she was awoken by the sound of Pinkie Pie talking excitedly to Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. She rubbed her eyes sleepily and got out of her tent in time to see Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy go glumly to the back of the line. Twilight came out of her tent too and used her magic to transport her tent back to her library home. Once Rarity exited her tent, Twilight did the same for Rarity. "Oh, thank you Twilight," said Rarity prompting a smile from Twilight.

Rarity got in line behind Twilight and Spike. Twilight turned her head back towards Spike. "Isn't this exciting Spike? Opening day of cider season!" she said happily.

"Yeah! That means only 30 more days 'til sapphire season!" replied the dragon. Rarity rolled her eyes, preferring to focus on cider season right now. She couldn't understand how Spike could waste precious gems like that by eating them!

At that moment, Applejack's amplified voice echoed throughout the farm. "Attention everypony! Cider season is now officially open!" The ponies in line chattered excitedly among themselves as the ponies began buying and drinking their cider. Rarity was only slightly surprised to see Pinkie Pie walk by, her forelegs full of cider mugs. Rarity smiled at the antics of the pink pony. She definitely saved up for cider season.

Soon Rarity placed her two bits into the money box and Apple Bloom pushed down on a lever and the mug under the tap began filling to the brim with delicious cider. Rarity grinned and picked up the mug. She drank the whole mug in one gulp. Oh it was heavenly, just like every year.

She thanked Applejack and moved forward so other ponies could get their cider. She walked towards Twilight who was talking to Spike. "Wasn't that cider amazing Spike? I knew that it was good, but that was without a doubt the best cider that I have ever had."

"Oh without a doubt. It just goes to show you that the Apple family is the best at everything Apple related!" said Spike.

"Without a doubt Twilight!" said Rarity. She was never so glad that she hadn't bashed Applejack's brains in with a rock than at this moment.

Twilight, Spike and Rarity stayed around and watched the ponies drinking cider. They loved pony watching together whenever they got the chance and seeing the happiness of so many ponies was fun for them. However, they still hadn't seen Fluttershy or Rainbow Dash. "Do you think they'll get any?" asked Rarity as she watched Big Macintosh move the third to the last barrel in position.

"I sure hope so," said Twilight worriedly. I would hate for them to miss out on this batch. It was quite extraordinary."

A few minutes later, they saw Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy moving quickly forward in line. If they didn't get any, it would be very close. There were only about a dozen ponies in line before them as Big Macintosh moved the last barrel into position. Apple Bloom began pumping cider out of the tap anew. Rarity and Twilight held their breaths as Fluttershy came up. Apple Bloom pushed the lever down and to their relief; Fluttershy's mug was filled up with cider. She moved forward so Rainbow Dash could get hers. Apple Bloom pushed down the lever and...the cider sputtered out. Well, that was the end of cider for today. Rainbow Dash looked heartbroken but her expression changed to one of anger almost immediately. Applejack moved in front of the stand to address the ponies that had not gotten any cider.

"Uh...sorry everypony, that's it for today," she said. A disappointed groan echoed throughout the line. Rainbow would have none of this weak apology.

"Surprise, surprise! You ran out again!" said Rainbow angrily.

"Yeah, you always run out!" sad another pony next to her. Applejack continued to give apologies and promises of more cider the next day if they would just be patient. Rarity turned to Twilight.

"How rude of them! I mean, yes it's disappointing that they don't get any cider, but I mean really, cider season lasts for a whole three weeks!" she said. Twilight nodded.

"Yeah. Although, if I did know what I was in for, I would be pretty disappointed that I didn't get any as well," said Twilight. Rarity nodded.

"I suppose you're right. I hope that Rainbow eventually does get some cider. She gets angrier every year," said Rarity. Twilight looked at her friend with interest.

"She hasn't ever gotten any Sweet Apple Acres cider?" she asked. Rarity shook her head.

"Basically cider season for Rainbow Dash means standing in line just to be disappointed three weeks out of the year," said Rarity grimly. Twilight looked at the angry Pegasus with shock.

"Poor Rainbow Dash! Still, she could have just come with us last night."

Before Rarity could respond, the two of them heard a noise coming from down the road to their left. They turned their heads to look at what was the source of the noise and they were surprised to see a sort of automated carriage chugging its way down the road. The ponies all gathered around to see exactly what the meaning was of this new invention that had come to their town.

The automated carriage slowed down and completely stopped right next to the cider stand, knocking over the fence nearby to the irritation of Granny Smith. Before the ponies could question this further, two ponies popped out of the strange device, two unicorn stallions in ghastly blue striped jackets with bow ties and topped of with a straw hat. They looked suspicious to Rarity, but she decided to give them a chance. Old Rarity would have killed them just because she could. But she was New Rarity now and New Rarity didn't just kill strangers anymore.

To Rarity's surprise, the two told the town that their machine made cider! Even Old Rarity wouldn't have killed the two of them now! She got to drink more cider today! They demonstrated their machine after borrowing some apples from the Apples and their machine started producing barrels of cider far faster than the Apple family possibly could! The two ponies, who seemed to be twins, called themselves Flim and Flam, odd names to be sure but she wouldn't judge them on that.

The two seemed to be negotiating a deal with the Apple family about going into the cider business together. Ooh, that would be an interesting prospect. Rainbow Dash could finally get her cider now! However, to Rarity's surprise, the Apples didn't seem to want to deal with the two of them. Rarity thought that it would be a win-win for everypony involved. Pinkie Pie walked over to Rarity and Twilight.

"Pinkie Pie darling, what is going on between the Apples and the brothers?" asked Rarity.

"Well Flim and Flam are being super-duper mean about the deal that they're trying to make! They want 75% of all apple cider sales that come out of Sweet Apple Acres. Twilight and Rarity looked at each other in shock.

"But that's just absolutely ridiculous!" said Twilight. "They'd lose the farm if they agreed to that deal!"

"Yeah," said Pinkie Pie as she looked towards the Apple family who seemed to have denied the deal by now as Flim and Flam looked irritated but still smug. "I don't know why they think the Apples would ever agree to that deal!" Twilight and Rarity nodded and at that moment, Flam jumped up on his machine.

"Don't you worry everypony! There'll be plenty of cider for all of you!" said Flam. Normally Rarity would have been pleased by this, but she saw Flim lean in say something to Applejack which seemed to frighten her very much.

A few minutes later, the brothers hopped onto their remarkable machine and drove off. A very worried looking Applejack walked over to Twilight and Rarity. "Hey y'all," she said worriedly. "Did you enjoy your cider?"

"Of course I did Applejack, but please tell me that you didn't agree to that nasty deal?" said Rarity.

"Of course we didn't, but they said we'll have to be competitors now! They're gonna try to run us outta business," said Applejack.

"Well how can they do that? The ponies of this town are loyal right? They'd never throw you aside to get more cider...right?" said Twilight.

"I just don't know Twilight, I just don't know."

Rarity awoke the next morning and looked at her clock. CURSES! It was 11:00 and the cider would surely be long gone by this point so there was no point in trying to get more. Still, she had gotten some yesterday and there was certainly no need to get some every single day of cider season.

Rarity got up out of bed and went into her workroom. As long as she didn't have wonderful, wonderful cider to drink, she might as well get some work done. She stretched a bit before walking downstairs to work on her latest creation. She had recently begun work on a red dress that she was making for a mare who said that she was using it to draw the attention of stallions in large crowds. It seemed like a silly thing to her but hey, she paid for it and Rarity would do her best to make sure that this particular mare loved it.

She adjusted her glasses and began working on the midsection of the dress. Oh, this particular mare had the strangest proportions, sort of an hourglass figure, but nothing that Rarity couldn't handle with ease. She hummed to herself while she worked, Giggle at the Ghosties. She remembered that as the song that she would play on her piano to get...down there.

Rarity shuddered. To think that she had actually used to do that oh, the thought was horrifying to Rarity, absolutely horrifying. Almost every night she would wake up screaming in terror, dreaming about how Sweetie Belle murdered Scarlet Tomato, how she had left three fillies orphaned when she had killed their mother and oldest sister, how Scootaloo had turned out even though Rarity had butchered her parents...she didn't know how she lived with herself anymore. She supposed that the Elements of Harmony helped control the grief and regret inside of her.

Rarity moved the needle down into the dress, stitching it up to...no, no she wasn't doing that. She was plunging a knife into somepony's chest! How had she...? NO, this couldn't be a dream right now; she hadn't been asleep when this had started! She looked down at her right hoof and sure enough, it was holding a large knife that was plunged into the chest of a pony that was strapped down to her table and weakly struggling to get out. How was this possible!?

Rarity gasped and pulled the knife out but it wouldn't budge. She struggled to get it out, apologizing profusely to the pony that she had just murdered. If she could get the knife out than maybe this pony wouldn't die! She could get her to a hospital and she wouldn't have fresh blood on her hooves.

Rarity stopped trying to pull the knife out and finally looked at the pony she was killing. Twilight, she had just stabbed Twilight!

"No Twilight! I didn't mean to I'm so sorry!" she said, burying herself into Twilight's shoulder. Blood was staining her white coat as it had done so many times before. Twilight weakly looked down at Rarity.

"Rarity...I...thought that you didn't...have to do this anymore. I...I thought that you were...free," said Twilight weakly.

"I was free! I don't know how this happened Twilight! I don't know what you're doing here!" said Rarity hysterically.

"Y...you monster," said Twilight softly. "I should have let Celestia destroy you." Rarity nodded.

"Yes, I know Twilight," said Rarity. Twilight's breaths were becoming more and more labored.

"R...Rarity," said Twilight softer than ever. It would not be long now. Rarity held Twilight's hoof in hers and leaned in.

"Yes Twilight?" she said.

"Knock knock."

Knock knock knock

Rarity snapped out of it. She looked down at the dress that she had been making. She had pulled so hard with the needle and thread that the outfit was scrunched up. Tears were staining the red fabric.

Rarity wiped her eyes. It had been almost a year since had had her last...episode (she didn't know what else to call them) and she had thought that she could repress them. They were always the same; she was killing one of her best friends. It was Applejack last time. However, she still ranked the one where she killed cut off a still living Fluttershy's face as the worst one.

Knock knock knock

Oh right, the door. Rarity wiped away the last of her tears and answered the door. To her surprise, she found Twilight and a very scared looking Applejack on the other side. "Oh my goodness, whatever is the matter Applejack?" asked Rarity.

"Can we come in?" asked Twilight. "Something just dreadful has happened."

"Oh yes of course!" said Rarity, moving aside so the two could enter her house. "Come to the kitchen and tell me everything at once!"

The three of them walked over to her kitchen and sat down at her table. Applejack still had the same scared look on her face so Twilight decided that she had better start.

"So, Flim and Flam came by again today when they ran out of cider. They tried to sell some cider to the ponies that didn't have any but Applejack stopped them because they were made from her apples. So, long story short, the brothers and the Apples made a bet that whoever can produce the most cider in one hour tomorrow gains the exclusive right to sell cider here in Ponyville." Applejack began shaking in fear now. Rarity got up and poured her a glass of water that she promptly made Applejack drink. She seemed to calm down a bit after that.

"Thanks Rarity," she said. "I'm just so worried about this whole thing. If we lose we lose the farm!"

"How dreadful!" said a shocked Rarity. "Do you think that you can beat their machine?" Applejack shrugged.

"I dunno, but we sure as hay aren't gonna let them take it without a fight. I just hope that we can beat that contraption of theirs otherwise...well, otherwise we have to leave Ponyville and go work on the farms of one of our relatives."

"You can't stay here?" asked Rarity. "I'm sure that you can find a job somewhere." Applejack shook her head.

"Like where?" she asked. Rarity didn't have an answer so the trio sat in silence for a while. Twilight had her hoof over Applejack's shoulder and Applejack seemed to be contemplating her glass of water. However, after a few moments a look of fury came across Applejack's face and she smashed the glass on the table. "They can't do this to us!" she said angrily. "Our family has worked that farm for generations! My parents are buried there, they can't just have it!" Twilight used her magic to repair the glass but Applejack seemed too angry to notice anything at the moment. Applejack had gotten up from the table and was now pacing around the kitchen angrily. "I'd rather be dead than see the farm of my ancestors of those...those...heathens! They're a disgrace to the name of apples!" Twilight and Rarity looked at each other uneasily. Rarity swore that Applejack's eyes turned a little red. "If they win tomorrow I'm gonna go into where they are sleeping with an axe and-"

"Applejack!" said a shocked Twilight. Twilight's interjection seemed to bring Applejack out of her rant. Tears filled her eyes.

"Heavens to Betsy...what did I just say?" said a horrified Applejack. She began crying in earnest now and curled up into a ball on the floor. Rarity and Twilight gingerly approached her.

"Applejack darling, are you alright?" asked Rarity. The question sounded foolish but she didn't know what else to say.

"N-n-no, I a-aint alright. D-d-did you hear w-w-what I j-just said?" said Applejack through her tears. "I w-w-wanted to k-k-k-kill them!"

"Oh Applejack, we know that you would never harm a fly! You have just had a great injustice done to your family and you don't know how to react to it," said Twilight. "But know this, even if you do lose, each and every one of us will help your entire family. Who knows? Ponyville might not stand for those two forever either." Applejack wiped her eyes and seemed to calm down a bit.

"But what happens if they don't? My parents are buried there Twilight, you and I both know that they won't respect that!" said Applejack. Rarity put a hoof on Applejack's shoulder.

"I promise you, I will do everything in my power to make sure that they do. Celestia help them if they so much look at the graves of your parents the wrong way," said Rarity. Applejack finally managed to stand up at this and she pulled Rarity into a hug.

"I don't know what I'd do without you girls," said Applejack. "I know that no matter what happens, you'll be by my side all the way."

"We're family Applejack, I believe in protecting my family," said Rarity. Applejack managed to control her sobs and she let go of Rarity.

"Thanks to the both of ya. I'm glad that I have you here to help me through stuff like this," said Applejack. She wiped her eyes one more time and began walking towards the door. "I gotta go back to the farm; we have a lot of preparin' to do for tomorrow and I gotta get to it."

"Let us know if you need anything, anything at all," said Twilight. Applejack nodded.

"I will Twi, I will," said Applejack as she walked out the door. Rarity looked sadly at the door for a few seconds before turning back to Twilight. To her surprise, Twilight was looking at her rather uneasily. Rarity raised an eyebrow at her.

"Is something the matter?" she asked.

"Rarity, would you mind explaining what all that was about?" asked Twilight.

"Why, whatever do you mean darling?" asked Rarity confusedly.

"That stuff you said about how things would end up badly for the brothers if they do stuff like desecrate the graves of AJ's parents." Rarity's eyes widened as she realized what Twilight was getting at.

"Twilight, that part of me is gone! I have no intention of harming those two, even if they do win tomorrow. I haven't killed anypony for almost two years now and there have been dozens of ponies that I would have killed if I hadn't been cleansed by the Elements. I do wish the two of them ill luck tomorrow, but I do not wish them death," said Rarity. Twilight seemed relieved by this answer. She had better believe Rarity, it was the truth!

"I know that you won't kill them, I don't even know why I was worried about it. You're right, that part of you is gone," said Twilight.

"Forever if I have my way," said Rarity. Twilight smiled and pulled Rarity into a brief hug.

"I know," she said. "Well, I have to go too. I have lots of studying to catch up on."

"Best of luck to you with that Twilight," said Rarity.

Twilight walked out of the kitchen towards the door to Rarity's home. Before she left, Rarity saw her stop to confusedly examine the dress that Rarity was making. Rarity became nervous for a brief moment. Did Twilight suspect that the mess there was the result of a...vision, for the lack of a better word, of Rarity murdering her?

Rarity breathed a sigh of relief as Twilight shrugged and exited the shop.

Rarity awoke bright and early the next day. There was no way in Celestia that she was going to miss the contest between the Flim-Flam Brothers and the Apple family. She didn't even stop to say goodbye to Sweetie Belle, who had woken up a few minutes before Rarity herself did, before she rushed out the door to Sweet Apple Acres.

She arrived just as Twilight and Pinkie Pie did. They snaked through the large crowd that had formed to see if they couldn't find Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.

Within a few minutes their search became successful and the five friends watched as the Apple family prepared for their upcoming battle. Rarity saw that Flim and Flam were simply lounging around on their machine, smug smiles on their faces. Anger boiled up inside of Rarity at the sight of the two.

"Do you think they can do it?" asked Fluttershy.

"I sure hope so," said Rainbow Dash worriedly. "I don't see how they can right now though. It only takes a few seconds to produce a barrel of coder with that machine."

"Well we shouldn't jump to conclusions with how well they're gonna do until we see both in action," said Twilight. "Who knows, they could be much faster." Rarity noted the tone in Twilight's voice. She didn't sound like she believed what she was saying at all. Twilight walked uneasily up to Applejack who was kicking away at a kicking bag, no doubt preparing to buck apples. Rarity turned to Rainbow Dash.

"How do you feel about them now Rainbow Dash?" asked Rarity. Rainbow glared at Rarity.

"If I had known what kind of swindlers they were, then I would never have even touched the handle of any cup of cider that they gave me!" she said. "I want to see the Apples whup them just as much as you do!" Before Rarity could respond, the amplified voice of the mayor rang throughout the morning air.

"Attention everypony!" said the Mayor as Twilight walked back over to rejoin the group of friends. "The teams have one hour to produce as much cider as they can! After which, the barrels will be counted and the winner will be named the sole cider provider for all of Ponyville!" The Mayor looked at both teams in succession. "Are both teams ready?"

"Ready!" said Applejack determinedly.

"Ready!" said Flim and Flam together.

"Then let's..." the hourglass timer was inverted and the sand began to slip to the bottom."...GO!"

The Apple family immediately began to run to their respective stations. Applejack began bucking trees as fast as she could and it was all Apple Bloom could do to catch them as they fell. Apple Bloom rushed the buckets over to Granny Smith who began sorting the apples as fast as she could, throwing the good ones into a large press that was powered by Big Macintosh. Within only a few minutes, the Apples had filled up one barrel of cider.

Rarity smiled with joy and looked to see what the brothers were doing. Surely they couldn't have...Rarity gasped when she saw a stack of six full barrels behind their machine.

The next half hour was torture for the five friends to watch. Every barrel filled by the Apples was matched with three by the twins. Rarity relayed her observation to Twilight who had a look of grim determination on her face. She walked up to the Mayor with the other four following.

"Miss Mayor, are honorary family members allowed to help in the competition?" asked Twilight hopefully. The Mayor looked unsure at the question.

"Well, I'm not sure." she turned to the brothers. "Flim, Flam, would you object to honorary family members helping?" Rarity's frustration of at the two brothers continued to rise as they still wouldn't wipe those smug grins off of their faces.

"Are you kidding?" said Flim.

"We don't care if the whole kingdom of Canterlot helps, it's a lost cause!" said Flam. The Mayor turned back to Twilight.

"Well, I guess it's okay," she said, still a little uncertain. She turned to Applejack. "Applejack, what do you think?" she asked. Applejack delivered a powerful blow to the nearest tree before answering. Rarity saw that Applejack looked like she was about to drop from exhaustion right then and there.

"I think I'd love to have the rest of my family helpin' out," she said.

"All right!" said Pinkie, Fluttershy, Rainbow, and Rarity in unison. The four quickly lined up to get their assignments from Twilight. She put Rarity on quality control and after a motivational sentence, the race continued.

Rarity rushed over to the unsorted barrels full of apples and used her magic to bring the closest one towards her and began sorting.

"Lovely, lovely, horrid, lovely, horrid, lovely, horrid," she said as she sorted, assigning the title to the respective apples. On and on it went, sorting apples with her magic and throwing them into the press. She started to get into 'The Zone' and soon she was totally immersed in sorting apples. Nothing else mattered right now, only sorting the apples. She vaguely heard Applejack say something about them being back into the competition, but she pushed it aside for now and kept right on sorting. Sort apples, that's all she had to do right now was sort apples, nothing else mattered except sorting apples. Sort the apples, sort the apples sort...

"Time's up!" said The Mayor. Rarity immediately snapped out of 'The Zone' and she put the apple that she had been about to sort back into the bucket before dropping from exhaustion. The sorting had taken a lot more out of her than she had imagined.

Rarity lied on the ground, trying to catch her breath. Had they won? Would those nasty ponies leave Ponyville? Rarity sure hoped so because if they did win, she wondered if the urge to murder them would return. But no, the Elements had cleansed her; even if they beat up Applejack, they still wouldn't earn a spot in her basement, and she would just let the law handle it. She wasn't going to kill them, they weren't going to die. Although, Rarity began to wonder why she kept coming back to the issue of whether or not she would kill them.

At that moment, the four words that Rarity had hoped that she would not hear were spoken by The Mayor. "Flim and Flam win!" Rarity bolted up and saw the gargantuan stack of barrels behind the brothers. They easily had at least three times as many barrels as the Apples did. Rarity's jaw dropped. What were they going to do now? She saw Rainbow about to rip both brothers a new one but she was stopped by Applejack. Then the brothers began laughing. Laughing. They were laughing at the misery of the Apple family. It was a disgusting caw of a laugh.

Rarity suddenly found herself back in her grove, she saw her filly self backing away from the three bullies who intended to do her serious harm. She saw her younger self spot the rock and inch towards it, desperately hoping that she wouldn't need to use it.

As Dug advanced, filly Rarity fired up her horn and a magical glow engulfed the rock. "Rarity!" said Rarity, desperately calling out to her younger self, hoping that she could prevent her from doing this terrible deed. To her surprise, her filly self seemed to hear her and she dropped the rock. She turned towards the source of the noise but was immediately knocked back when Dug's hoof connected with her face.

Rarity could only watch on in horror as her filly self was ruthlessly beaten. Kicker was living up to his name and kicking Rarity in the side while Annie bit Rarity's leg. Dug continued punching Rarity in the head, not caring in the slightest that Rarity was screaming. Both Raritys were screaming at what was happening to the younger one. Eventually, filly Rarity managed to use the last of her strength to push Dug off of her and she began running away. Dug gave a snarl of anger and picked up the rock that Rarity was going to use to prevent this very thing from happening to her.

He threw it at her and it instantly connected with the back of her skull. Filly Rarity fell down to the ground like a marionette whose strings had just been cut. Adult Rarity gave a scream of terror and rushed over to her filly self. She scooped up her undoubtedly dead younger self and cradled her in her forelegs. She tried her best to clean up her dead filly self, as if by some random chance she was cleaned up, then she wouldn't be dead. Laughter, she heard more laughter. She turned to see Dug, Kicker, and Annie laughing at her. Only it wasn't their laugh, the laughs were those of Flim and Flam.

Rarity snapped out of her vision in time to see Applejack sadly walking away. The brothers had already set up a stand to sell their cider. Rarity saw that the town looked horrified to see that the Apples had lost. How could they be horrified NOW!? They were the ones who had tolerated the brothers and now look at what was happening!

Tears began to form in Applejack's eyes. Rarity wanted to go over to her, to comfort her, to tell her that everything was going to be alright, that the Flim Flam Brothers were just a terrible nightmare that all of them were sharing, but she knew that they weren't. The brothers were very real and they had just kicked the Apple family off of the farm.

Rarity began to cry as well and she looked over to the cider stand that the brothers had set up. To her surprise, not to mention joy, the townsfolk seemed very unhappy with the cider that they had just been served. They were complaining about it and no amount of begging from the brothers seemed to do the trick.

Rarity's jaw dropped as the brothers did a little dance move before they jumped on their machine and zoomed away from Ponyville. They...they were gone? Yes! They were gone!

The cider that Rarity had drunk that day had been the best that she had ever tasted. It was made even better by the fact that it was the fruits of not just the labor of the Apple family, but the other five friends as well. The whole town drank cider until nopony could drink anymore. Even Rainbow Dash managed to secure herself a cup or two. By the end of the day, the Apples still had at least a dozen barrels of leftover cider.

Rarity had gone home not long after the first members of the crowd had started to disperse. She had a lot of thinking to do.

She walked into her home and locked the door. Sweetie Belle had been picked up by her parents earlier that day, so there was no reason to worry about her. Rarity began pacing.

"Rarity...when you heard those beastly stallions laugh...what did you see?"

"Well Rarity, I think...I think that you saw what would have happened if you hadn't killed those foals all those years ago."

"But how do I know that Rarity?"

"What else could it have been?"

"I don't know Rarity...but if it is what would have happened, does that mean that I was always destined to kill? Does that mean that fate made me into who I am? Am I supposed to be a murderer?"

"Rarity, I...I think so. If you hadn't killed Dug, you would be dead. If you had killed Dug but not the other two, then you would likely have been executed for his death and in either case, you wouldn't have become a wielder of an Element of Harmony! You needed to murder those three foals to save the lives of millions."

"Does that mean that it's my destiny? That I should kill until I can't kill anymore Rarity?"

"Rarity, you forget that you never saw it as a coincidence that you killed three foals and a few weeks later, your cutie mark appeared with three gems on it. That side of you is a part of who you are."

Rarity sighed and looked towards the closet that led to her secret room. Despite every ounce of common sense she possessed telling her not to; Rarity began walking towards the closet. She played the tune, the secret door opened up and she walked down into her basement.

It was just like she had remembered it: the hides and manes covering her walls, both protected from decay by her magic, the table where so many of her kills had been performed, the workbench that housed her knives, all of it just where it was supposed to be.

Over the course of the past 18 months, Rarity had always wondered why she had not cleared out her basement. It was still enough evidence to get her executed but she still held on to it. Looking around now she remembered why: even if she was cleansed now, this was still a large part of who she was.

She walked over to her workbench and opened it up. Her collection of knives looked as shiny and sharp as the day that she had obtained them. Rarity picked up her butchers knife. The feeling of holding it in her hooves was like seeing an old friend for the first time in years.

A fire awoke inside of Rarity, a fire that she had not felt in a very long time. She knew what she had to do. She smiled to herself as she placed the knife on her tray.

"I'm baaaack!"

Weeks. That's how long it had taken her to track down Flim and Flam. Her patience was rewarded though when she found out that the duo was trying to peddle their wares in Trottingham. Rarity went towards Trottingham at once under the guise of delivering an order of dresses.

Finding the brothers was not an issue at all. The duo simply attracted attention wherever they went. They practically demanded it from everypony that they met.

Rarity intercepted them late at night, when their machine had long since powered down and the duo were about to turn in for the night. She approached them, giddy with excitement at what she was about to do. They saw her come up and watched her get closer with interest.

"Hellllooo boys," said Rarity in her overly-sweet voice.

"Uh, hi," said Flim confusedly.

"Do we know you?" asked Flam.

"Oh I'm from Ponyville. I remembered seeing you two the last time you were there and I thought that I'd stop to say hello." The brothers looked at each other uneasily. Rarity changed her tactic. "Well, there's another reason that I approached you. You see, it turns out that the Apple family has failed to pay their income tax for quite some time and they had to leave town in a hurry a few days ago. Since then, Sweet Apple Acres is available to buy. I saw you from across the street and figured that you two would get better use out of it than most ponies in Equestria." The brothers looked at each other eagerly.

"Do you really mean it?" asked Flim.

"Why of course I do. Why in Equestria would I lie?" asked Rarity.

"I think we have a farm to go buy Flim!" said Flam excitedly. The tow powered up their machine before rarity stopped them for a brief moment.

"Oh, I'm going in that direction as well," said Rarity. "Could you maybe give me a lift?" Flim and Flam eagerly nodded.

"I think it's the least we could do uh, what's your name?" said Flim.

"Oh, Roxeanne," said Rarity sweetly.

She hopped on to the contraption which sped away into the night. Rarity smiled at herself. She didn't remember it being this easy. "How much longer until we get close to Ponyville?" asked Rarity after a while.

"Oh, a few minutes or so," said Flim.

"Wonderful," said Rarity as she pulled two syringes out of her saddlebag. "Can you stop for a brief moment? I'm getting a little motion sick. Just a moment is all I need." The brothers nodded and stopped the vehicle. Immediately Rarity stabbed the needles into their necks and both were unconscious immediately. Rarity hopped off of the machine and placed the two brothers into tow potato sacks. She groaned as she pulled them off of their machine. They wouldn't be easy to transport back but she had darkness on her side.

Rarity turned the SSCS6000 back on and drove it towards a nearby swamp. With a push of magic, she pushed it into the swamp. The machine began to sink slowly and Rarity took great delight in watching it go down. However, after a few minutes it stopped sinking. Rarity's heart stopped. It was only 3/4ths of the way in! How was she going to...? The machine began to sink once more and Rarity let out a sigh of relief. The swamp took the whole thing.

Rarity had no trouble bringing the brothers back to her basement. She secured them and waited for them to wake up.

She had to wait for a while before they did, but she wasn't disappointed by their reaction to their predicament. Flim looked around, horrified at what he saw. Flam merely screamed in pain.

Rarity had realized that she didn't have space for dual kills in her basement, she only had the one table, and so she had to improvise. She had hung a hook from her ceiling, a hook that was currently embedded in the back of Flam at that very moment. "Well hello boys," said Rarity happily. "Glad to see that you're awake." Flim turned his terrified gaze to Rarity while Flam merely contorted in pain more.

"What's going on here?" he asked.

"Well, I have decided that I am going to play a little game with you," said Rarity as she hooked up a battery to the hook that held Flam. "I have a button here and your job is to tell me when to press it. Tell me to do it whenever you want me to. I am going to take this vegetable peeler here and go to work peeling of your skin bit-by-bit. Every time you press the button then I stop. The button sends a volt of electricity into your bother here. Every time you press, I up the voltage but stop skinning you alive for a few minutes." Flim whimpered as Rarity picked up the vegetable peeler. She placed the button on the tray next to her. "The game begins...now!" Rarity placed the vegetable peeler on Flim's right foreleg and pressed down before dragging it downwards. Flim screamed as each drag tore off more and more of his flesh.

"Push it!" said Film desperately. Rarity nodded and pushed the button. Flam convulsed as electricity coursed through his body.

"Oh I forgot to mention, by the sixth push the voltage is fatal," said Rarity as she adjusted a dial that upped the voltage. She reached for the peeler again.

"No! Push the button!" said Flim. Rarity nodded and pushed it once more. Flam screamed in pain and Rarity upped the voltage once more. The brothers made eye contact, each of them sporting a look of sorrow and pain. "I...I'm sorry brother," said Flim weakly.

"Don't let her kill me," said Flam desperately. Rarity rolled her eyes.

"One of you isn't going to make it out of here alive. If Flim is still alive once I'm done peeling his skin off, I'll just move to slicing his flesh with a knife." said Rarity. She picked up the peeler once more and when Flim was silent, she began her work anew and peeled off his skin. Flim screamed in pain and began crying out each time Rarity ran the peeler over his skin. To Rarity's surprise, she heard Flam speak behind her.

"Push the button!" said Flam. Rarity turned around and raised an eyebrow at him.

"What was that?" she asked.

"Push the button," he repeated.

"No," said Flim weakly. Rarity paid him no heed and pushed the button. Flam convulsed some more and cried out in pain. Rarity upped the voltage.

"Push the button," said Flam once more. Rarity nodded and pushed it. Flim could only look on in horror as his brother kept insisting that Rarity push the button. True to Rarity's word, the sixth push was fatal and Flam hung lifeless from the hook. Rarity examined Flim. The skin on his leg was almost completely gone. To her displeasure, Flim had fainted. She was about to groan, but she stopped herself when an idea struck her. She picked up a knife and got to work.

Flim awoke an hour later. "You know, it's very rude to pass out like that," said Rarity from behind Flim. Flim looked towards where his brother was hanging and screamed in terror at the bloody mass that he saw.

"What did you do to my brother!?" he said.

"Well let's see, the torso has been severed in mid-thorax; there are no major organs remaining, his right foreleg has been severed above the elbow-"

"What did you do to his face!?"

"I cut it off," said Rarity simply.

"Where is it?" asked Flim desperately. At this Rarity let out a maniacal giggle.

"Why, you're wearing it darling," said Rarity.

"W...what?"

"I cut off his face to make a sort of mask then I put it on your face. Simple enough?" said Rarity. Film paused for a second then screamed louder than he had this entire time. Although this time, the screams were mixed with sobs of sorrow. Rarity rolled her eyes and took Flam's face off of Flim. She put it on her own. "Hey, let's make cider!" said Rarity in her best impression of Flam's voice. Film merely continued to sob and Rarity took Flim's face off.

She grabbed her carving knife and got to work on Flim's stomach. She sliced him open amidst his screams of pain. Rarity made one long cut from top to bottom and used her magic to pull both ends open revealing his inner organs. Flim looked at his insides with terror.

Silently, Rarity grabbed a vial of acid and slowly poured it into his chest cavity. Flim screamed even louder now. How in Equestria did he manage to keep screaming louder? Rarity shook her head then grabbed her hammer. She broke off his ribs one-by-one, revealing his heart and lungs. She looked at her victim with a smile. "Goodbye darling," she said happily. His eyes widened as Rarity raised the hammer once more. She swung downwards and crushed his heart with one blow. Flim was instantly dead.

Rarity put her hammer down and jumped into the air with joy. She scooped up some of Flim's blood and let it drizzle over her head before she ripped out his crushed heart and impaled it on her horn. She cut out his intestines and wrapped them around her body before dancing around the room, humming the Winter Wrap-Up song that she had learned.

It was good to be back.


	19. When I was a Little Filly

Author's note: As I was writing this chapter, I realized that it would be unfair to you if I didn't give you a warning about the contents of this chapter. I put all of my chapters in for a reason and this one is no different, but it will likely be deeply disturbing. I hope that doesn't ruin the contents of this chapter but I would rather have some aspects of it ruined then having you read it and be disturbed by what you read. I don't hold back on this one and it is probably my most emotionally brutal chapter yet. Although, there is still no sex or swearing involved in this chapter (nor will there ever be). If you've read this note and still want to continue, well...I warned you.

Three weeks. That's how long it had been since the murders of Flim and Flam, and Rarity was beginning to become extremely frustrated with the down time that she had.

Before being cleansed by the Elements, she could stand going a few weeks or even a few months between kills. She would merely wait until the opportunity for another murder arose and she would take it. There was never any need to rush anything.

Now though, all of that was different. It seemed that after almost two years if inaction on her part, her cravings to murder had become even stronger as if to make up for lost time.

Rarity was getting very anxious. She needed to make a kill soon or she couldn't be held responsible for what she was going to do. Sure she could control it now, but would she be able to later? Oh she knew that she wouldn't attack her friends, but there were other ponies in the town that she would likely kill if she snapped. Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, Snips and Snails, all ponies that she desperately wanted to kill but refrained from doing so as they were merely foals...and Rarity didn't kill foals. Still, the idea was mighty tempting when she thought about it.

Rarity found that when the urge to kill was rising inside of her, she often used the color red prominently in her designs. Her fiery dresses would command the attention of anypony who walked into her shops and to her delight, they were her best-sellers. However, even the success of the pure art that came out of her when she needed to kill did almost nothing to substitute for the real thing. The sale of a blood red dress did nothing to replace the pure elation that she felt when she was slicing out a nearly dead pony's spinal cord to display in front of her victim. Even thinking about it made Rarity's need become stronger.

Rarity put the final stitch in her latest blood red design, a little piece she called Forgotten Rain, and surveyed it quickly. It was her best design under these circumstances yet but still not enough.

She placed the needle and thread inside of her kit and slammed the lid shut and gave a frustrated yell. She. Needed. To. KILL!

She began angrily pacing around the room. Today was the worst day yet. She was clearly going into withdrawal at this point but this wasn't drugs, it was murder. The other days she managed to keep control of her need to an extent, but today was different. Rarity knew that a kill was necessary very soon or else she would do something that she regretted very much, something that would possibly lead to capture...and death.

She stormed out of Carousel Boutique and decided to take a walk. She didn't know where she was going or what she was going to do, but she just...needed to walk right now.

Rarity walked for what seemed to her to be like hours. It was daylight when she had started and now she saw that it was getting dark out. Still, the cool twilight air did her good and she was beginning to gain control of her urges once more.

She found herself near a motel in the outskirts of Ponyville proper. She looked over the worn-down building with interest. She had forgotten that this place even existed and she suspected most of the town had too. Could she...no, that wouldn't do at all. If even these ponies disappeared then someone would suspect something. If somepony suspected something then there would be an investigation and Twilight would surely hear about it and it wouldn't take a lot for her to suspect Rarity. Very little suspicious activity these days wouldn't have Twilight suspecting Rarity in some fashion. Thankfully, Twilight had never checked Rarity's basement and as such, she never saw the two new pony 'masks' that she had on her wall. She mused that she was expanding past hides and manes a decent amount these days.

Rarity took a few deep breaths before sitting down on a bench to rest for a bit before heading back to her house. Her dress did still need to be cleaned up a bit and displayed properly.

As Rarity continued to sit on the bench and as the sun continued to set. Yes, this walk had definitely been a good idea. Suddenly, she heard a commotion in front of her. She turned her head to see a tiny Earth pony filly, she seemed to be about four or five years old, being angrily herded towards the motel by an Earth pony mare that Rarity assumed was her mother. The mother looked rather angry with the filly. Rarity strained her ears and tried to listen in on the conversation.

"I swear, you can be a real pain to have around sometimes Sweetie," said the mare angrily. The filly's ears flattened.

"But mommy, I didn't mean to do that," said Sweetie sadly. The mare didn't seem to care.

"We'll talk about it more in the morning; right now you need to get yourself into bed. If only your father was alive, he could deal with you instead of me having to," said the mare. Sweetie's eyes filled with tears and she cried all the way towards the motel. Rarity noted that they went into room one.

Rarity's jaw was open from shock. How could any mare say that to her filly? Rarity would never even considering saying it to Sweetie Belle, much less any child that she would have. How could she even think about saying those things to her child!? The filly would be better off not being around that mare if those were the kinds of things that she said to her daughter.

A wide smile spread across Rarity's face. Yes, that filly would be better off without her mother verbally abusing her like that...and that was something that Rarity could very easily make happen.

Rarity walked back towards the motel with a new spring in her step. Finally, a new kill! After weeks of waiting, she finally had another pony to kill! She decided that she would do with the filly what she did with Scootaloo all those years ago: Ponyville Orphanage. Although, she would probably drug her to make sure she stayed asleep during the trip over.

She saw the motel in the distance and as it got closer, she moved a little faster. Her urge to kill this verbally abusive mare was giving her new purpose and she knew that she could get back to being happy old Rarity once tonight was over.

As she approached the motel, she noticed that the light was on in cabin one. she carefully trotted over to the window and peeked inside. The mare was sitting on the bed, seemingly deep in thought. The filly was nowhere to be seen. Rarity assumed that she was simply in the other room.

Rarity was confused by the fact that the mare looked sad as well as contemplative. Did she regret what she said earlier or was she merely wishing the filly's father was still alive? It didn't really matter to Rarity one way or the other and she quietly moved over to the door. She was just about to open the door when she heard the mare move around on the bed and the light switch off. Good, it seemed that she had just gone to bed. This would be easier than she thought.

Rarity tried the door handle to see if it was locked and she found that it wasn't. Rarity grinned. Ponies were far too trusting of their surroundings.

She gently pushed the door open and took a tiny syringe out of her saddle bags. Once the mare was knocked out, she would knock out the filly and give her to the orphanage before dealing with the nasty mare.

She tip-hooved closer to the bed and expertly stabbed one syringe into the mare's neck. The mare gave a grunt of pain and swatted at the syringe before sitting up and turning the light on. She turned around and her eyes landed on Rarity. She gave a gasp of shock and clearly she wanted to cry for help but the drug was already taking its effect.

"W...who are you and...wha..what are y...you," said the mare sleepily. Any second now she would be unconscious. Rarity smiled at her.

"Just go to sleep now and everything will be okay. I'll make sure your daughter is well taken care of," said Rarity sweetly. The mare gave her a horrified stare before turning her head towards the other room. A few seconds later she collapsed on the ground.

Rarity gave a satisfied smile and turned towards the other room to deal with the filly only to find her already awake and staring in horror at her unconscious mother. Rarity's jaw dropped. The filly looked at Rarity with wide eyes.

"Miss, what's wrong with my mommy? Who are you?" she said. The child was obviously terrified and to some extent, Rarity was too. The filly quietly walked over to her mother and began shaking her. "Mommy, wake up mommy, what's wrong with you?" The filly began crying.

Rarity was frozen to the spot. The filly would certainly remember her even if she dropped her off at the orphanage. The ponies who ran it would ask her about her parents and she would undoubtedly be able to describe Rarity. Even if she was only a filly, her testimony would undoubtedly be able to implicate Rarity in the disappearance of her mother. Rarity began to inwardly panic. Did she have to...?

The filly walked over to Rarity and tried to pull her over to her mother. "Please miss, we gotta get my mother to a hospital! I think something's wrong with her! Please miss, you gotta help me!" she said. Rarity was close to tears now but she couldn't make a choice here. Her basement, she had to get the mother into her basement.

Rarity used her magic to take a smaller syringe out of her saddlebag and wordlessly she stuck it into the filly's neck. The filly gave Rarity a sleepily confused look before collapsing next to her mother.

Rarity's transportation of the filly and her mother had gone off without a hitch, just like it always did. The mother was unconscious on Rarity's table and the filly was carefully wrapped up in the potato sack as if it were a blanket. Rarity hoped dearly that the filly wouldn't wake up, and then she could figure out what to do with her. She didn't want to kill her, she couldn't kill her! Right?

She could still reverse this, just put them back in their motel room and with any luck, they would see this as just a bad dream. No harm done, no harm done at all. Rarity reached for the straps that held the mother down but pulled back at the last second. No, they couldn't both have the same bad dream.

The mother groaned and groggily woke up. Rarity merely observed her silently as the mother realized what was happening to her. Rarity glanced at her tray as the mother screamed in terror. She had been so lost in thought that she didn't even pick out any knives.

The mother saw Rarity and began panicking. "Please, let me go! Don't hurt me, don't hurt my daughter!" she said. Rarity managed to put on a brave face and gained a little resolve once she remembered how this mare had treated the young, innocent filly.

"Why not? If I kill her now then you'll be rid of her just like you wanted. I seem to recall you saying that you wished her father were still alive so you wouldn't have to deal with her," said Rarity coldly. Tears began to fall from the mother's eyes.

"I didn't mean to say that," she said sadly. "It was very, very, very wrong of me and I didn't mean it. I apologized to her the second we were inside. I had had a long day and she had knocked over a display case in a grocery store we had just come from. It made a huge mess but that doesn't justify my words to her. I...I was gonna make it up to her when we woke up, I promised her that I would make it up to her. I didn't mean it, I didn't mean it," said the mare.

Rarity began losing her nerve now. She wanted to believe that the mare was only saying that so Rarity would spare her life, but deep down Rarity knew that this mare was telling the truth.

Rarity and the mare stared at each other for a long time. Rarity wanted to say something, anything at all, but no words came. The mare was slowly calming down, but the horror of the situation that she found herself in was still etched on her face.

Rarity broke off the stare. She had planned a torturous night for the mare, she was going to carve the words that she had said to her daughter into her flesh, but now she couldn't do that. No, it would be a quick and painless death now. Rarity owed her that much.

Rarity opened up her workbench and pulled out a sharp hunting knife. She knew just where to stab her to instantly kill her and she would do it as fast as she could. She used her magic to levitate it and walked back over to the mare who began hyperventilating and sobbing when she saw the knife. Tears were beginning to fall down Rarity's face now too.

"I...I'm so sorry," said Rarity quietly. "I don't want to do this anymore."

"You don't have to!" said the mare desperately. "You can let us go and we won't tell anypony about this!"

"Oh don't give me that. Look around you! It doesn't take a genius to figure out that I'm a serial killer. You'd blab to the first pony you made eye contact with. I'd be arrested within five minutes of letting you go."

"But you'd be free from all of this," said the mare. "If you don't want to do this then at least you would know that in the end you were merciful, that you didn't kill a mother and her innocent filly. You would at least have that." Rarity was beginning to cry now. There was truth to the words of the mare. She could end all of this with an act of mercy and die knowing that an innocent filly was safe in her mother's hooves.

All of a sudden the situation turned from terrible to an all-out nightmare for Rarity.

"MOMMY!" said the filly. Rarity and the filly turned to see that the filly had woken up and was running towards her trapped mother. She scrambled onto the table and curled up into a ball on her mother's chest. "Please don't hurt my mommy!"

Rarity was only barely able to keep herself from dissolving into hysterical sobs. As it was she was openly weeping. The filly did her best to wrap her forelegs around her mother as she cried into her chest. The mare was crying as well and for a few minutes, the basement was filled with the sounds of pure sorrow and fear from everypony in the room. Rarity's hold on the knife completely went away and it clattered onto the ground. Rarity's knees gave way and she was lying on the ground with her back up against the wall, crying her eyes out.

The filly turned her head towards Rarity and looked at her with tear filled eyes. "Please," she said desperately, 'Don't hurt my mommy. She didn't do anything to you please let her go."

"S...Sweetie, you need to get off of mommy right now," said the mare.

"No!" said Sweetie, hugging her mother tightly.

"Mommy will be okay Sweetie, but you need to be very brave for mommy right now. In a few minutes we'll go home and we'll be happy together. We'll go to Fillydelphia and see that play that you love so much and we'll be happy together," said the mare. "But you need to be brave for mommy right now, you need to be brave." Sweetie looked up at her mother.

"Do you promise everything will be okay mommy?" she asked. The mother gave her a watery smile.

"I promise you that everything will be okay," she said. Sweetie sadly nodded and gave her mother one last hug before climbing off the table and returning to the corner where she huddled into a frightened ball.

Rarity lost all control and she began to wail in sorrow. How could she do this? She knew that the mare was right of course. She should let them go and she could be content with the knowledge that her last act in this basement had been one of mercy and not slaughter. She looked at the fallen knife and wondered why she had ever picked it up in the first place. How could she kill these two ponies!? What kind of a monster kills a mother and her child?

Rarity calmed down a little and looked at the huddled filly in the corner. Sweetie was her name it seemed. Sweetie...Sweetie Belle. She reminded her a lot of Sweetie Belle. They even had similar colors, although Sweetie's coat was greyer and her mane was solid purple. Sweetie Belle. Yes, Sweetie Belle. Rarity began to think for a moment. If she let these two go then Sweetie belle would have to live the rest of her life without a sister to watch over her and care for her. Sweetie Belle couldn't go through life without a sister. Rarity couldn't die; she had to be alive for Sweetie Belle.

Slowly Rarity stood up once more and picked up the knife. She advanced towards the mare who gave her a look of pure horror and fear.

"Mommy," said Sweetie desperately.

"Close your eyes Sweetie, close your eyes and be brave for mommy. It'll all be over soon!" said the mare who was struggling to get out of the straps.

Rarity advanced towards the mare with a blank look on her face with tears still falling from her eyes.

"Mommy, no!" said Sweetie.

"Close your eyes for mommy Sweetie, close your eyes and be brave. Close your eyes Sweetie, CLOSE YOUR EYES!"

Rarity walked out of Carousel Boutique, the blank look still etched on her face. She just needed to walk now. She didn't even know where she was going and frankly she didn't care. She just had to be away from her house, that basement where she had just...no, she couldn't think about that now.

She tried to think of something, anything else to get her mind off of what had just happened but she kept re-playing the events in her mind over and over again. She imagined that she would for a long time.

Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain on her head and she looked up to see that she had run into something: Twilight's library home. She had walked all the way to Twilight's house.

Without thinking too much about what she was doing, she approached the door and knocked. She didn't expect anypony to hear her but she didn't know what else to do. She heard a few noises coming from inside the house and within a few seconds, the door opened to reveal an exhausted looking Twilight.

"Oh, Rarity," she said with a yawn. "What can I do for..." she stopped in mid-sentence when she took a good look at Rarity. She still had the blank expression on her face but tears were streaming down her eyes once again. "Rarity, what's the matter!?" asked Twilight worriedly.

"I...I...I just..." she said weakly.

"Come in, come in!" said Twilight opening the door and escorting the ivory unicorn into her home. Rarity entered without another word. The minute Twilight close the door Rarity felt her knees begin to wobble. Twilight looked at her with a concerned look on her face. "Rarity...what's the matter?" she asked. Rarity's legs lost all of the will to stand and Rarity collapsed onto the ground.

She curled up into a ball and cried.


	20. Dream, Little One Dream

Rarity continued weeping. She was only vaguely aware at this point that she was on Twilight's floor in the library but that detail was unimportant at the moment. She didn't even know why she was there.

She vaguely became aware of a hoof on her shoulder and a faraway voice trying to break through her sorrow. She surmised that it was Twilight's voice.

"Rarity? Rarity? Rarity, please talk to me. Please tell me what's wrong!" said Twilight desperately.

Tell her what was wrong? How in Equestria could she do that? It would mean instant death for her because Twilight would doubtlessly turn her in if she knew what had happened. Nopony could ever know what had happened tonight. Twilight began stroking Rarity's mane.

"Okay Rarity, I need you to calm down now. We can talk about what's wrong but you need to calm down. If you want I can go get some of the others and we can help you through whatever is wrong," said Twilight softly. At the mention of the others Rarity's eyes widened and she bolted up and grabbed Twilight in her hooves.

"No! I don't want to involve them, please don't involve them in this!" She said desperately.

"Okay, okay, I won't go get them," said Twilight soothingly. She began stroking Rarity's mane once more. "Shhh, just calm down now and everything will be okay. I can make us some tea of you want me to, would you like that?" Rarity wiped away some tears from her eyes and glumly nodded. Twilight gave her a small smile and stood up. "Okay, I'll just be a minute. I'll bring some tea back for us and we can talk about what's wrong."

As Twilight walked into the kitchen to get some tea, Rarity briefly considered leaving the house and just running away from Twilight. Heck, she could run away from Ponyville too, out of Equestria if she needed to. But no, that would be foolish of her. Yet how could she face Twilight now? What was she going to tell her?

"Tell her Rarity," she said so quietly to herself that she could barely hear herself. "Tell her and it will all be over, it can end for good."

"No Rarity, it would destroy them. It would destroy all of them."

Rarity managed to sit up and stop crying just in time for Twilight to come in with a kind smile and two cups of tea. She placed one in front of Rarity before sitting down and placing another one in front of herself. Rarity took a shaky sip of tea and began to breathe deeply.

"Now, do you feel up to telling me what's wrong?" asked Twilight. Rarity met her gaze and all at once the tears came back despite Rarity's best efforts to hold them back. It took a few minutes for her to regain her composure.

"I...I..." she didn't even know where to begin, but she had to begin somewhere. "I...well, you know what my past is Twilight, you know what horrible things that I've done in my life." she said sadly. Twilight nodded.

"I had a feeling that this was about...that," she said. Rarity returned the nod.

"Yes, yes it is," she said. She took another sip of tea before continuing. "It's just...in the first few years after you cleansed me with the Elements, I was very happy because I thought that the nightmare was over. I was free to live my life, confident that I wouldn't have to kill anypony ever again." She took a bigger sip of tea now. "But I was looking at the door to my basement again and I remembered what happened down there and I felt something that I...I never even thought to feel," said Rarity. The tears were coming once again and she drained her cup, hoping that the hot liquid would prevent them. No such luck. A fresh wave of tears fell from her face once more.

Twilight scooted over next to Rarity and pulled her into a hug. "Guilt," she said simply. "You're feeling overwhelming guilt right now." Rarity nodded and sobbed into Twilight's shoulder. The basic story was a lie of course but the emotion was not. If Twilight believed the lie behind the real emotion then she would help her instead of turning her in. Twilight patted her on the back. "Guilt and sadness are two emotions that the mind represses as much as it can to protect itself. In your case, your mind repressed the feeling of guilt for almost two years. You didn't believe that you could handle the guilt that would come from murdering almost 100 beings and so you repressed that emotion for as long as you could. Now it's coming back."

Rarity nodded. She supposed that what Twilight was saying was true but she didn't really care about the technical aspects of it right now.

"Help me," she said weakly. She didn't know how Twilight could help her in all honesty. How would such an innocent pony help deal with the guilt of a serial killer? Sure enough, Twilight looked just as helpless as Rarity felt.

"What do you want me to do Rarity?" she asked.

"I...I don't even know," said Rarity. "Don't you have any ideas?" Twilight furrowed her brow and closed her eyes. She was clearly thinking deeply about what to do.

"I don't know if I can help you Rarity. I mean, you're the first serial killer in Equestria in hundreds of years. Nopony alive has ever tried to be a therapist for an ex-serial killer." said Twilight. Rarity looked up at her helplessly.

"You can't help me?" she said.

"Well, I think the only thing that I can do is be your friend. I am more than willing to talk to you whenever you need a listening ear," said Twilight. Rarity sniffled a bit and wiped her eyes once more.

"Can I have one now?" she asked.

"Of course!" said Twilight. "I saw what was down there, I can handle it." Rarity nodded before looking around for a second.

"Can Spike hear us? I don't want him listening in on this," said Rarity worriedly. Twilight shook her head.

"He would sleep through a thunderstorm that was happening right inside the house, we're fine. Still, we can go into the kitchen if you want," said Twilight. Rarity nodded and the two ponies stood up and walked into the kitchen. Twilight directed Rarity to a table and the two sat down.

"Okay Rarity, what do you want to talk about?" she asked. Rarity sighed.

"Are you sure that you can hear it? I'm one of your best friends Twilight, are you sure you want to hear stories about ponies that I've murdered?" asked Rarity. Twilight hesitated for a brief moment before answering.

"I'll admit that it won't be an easy thing to hear Rarity, but do know that I'd do anything to help you get through this and if the best way that I can do that is to listen to what you have to say, then I'll be here to do that," she said. Rarity's eyes filled with tears once more but she held them back.

"Okay, if you are sure that you can handle it," she said.

"I can," said Twilight. "Tell me what you want to say."

Rarity took a deep breath and averted her eyes down to the table. She couldn't look at Twilight while she was saying this.

"As you know, I have killed many ponies in my lifetime. I have to be honest Twilight, most of them I don't regret. After the way Trixie and Gilda treated you, I don't think I will ever regret killing them. As a matter of fact...there are only two that I will regret as long as I live." Rarity lost the battle with her emotions and she began crying once more. "A mother and her filly." Rarity heard Twilight give a small gasp of shock which only weakened her resolve. "Ever since I met you girls and became a wielder of an Element, I only wanted to kill those who deserved it. The mare and her filly most certainly did not deserve it. See, I heard the mare say something cruel to her daughter and I decided to kill her. I thought she was an abusive mother Twilight and that the filly would be better off with somepony else to take care of her, somepony who would love her. As it turned out, the mother had merely had a hard day and immediately regretted what she had said. When I went to kidnap the mother to kill her, the filly walked into the room and I had to take her too. They both ended up in my basement and...and..." Rarity couldn't bring herself to finish. She buried her head in her forelegs and began sobbing.

She was surprised to see that Twilight was saying nothing. She regained control and looked up at Twilight.

Twilight was looking at Rarity with an odd expression on her face. Rarity couldn't quite figure it out, but it looked like a cross between sorrow, sympathy and...contempt? "Twilight, please say something," said Rarity. Twilight took a deep breath before responding.

"What," Twilight's voice cracked and she cleared her throat before continuing. "What exactly should I say to you telling me that a bad judgement call on your part led to you butchering a mare and her innocent filly? What. The. Buck. Should. I. SAY!?"

The harsh tone of the last sentence made Rarity jump a little. She began taking sharp breaths and had to concentrate for a moment before responding.

"Tell me whatever you think I deserve to hear," she said simply. Twilight's averted her eyes and instead stared at the wall.

"'What you deserve to hear'? Rarity, you deserve to hear me say 'I'm waking up Spike and telling the Princess about this'. You deserve to hear 'Get the buck out of my house and don't come near me OR my friends for the rest of your pathetic existence'. You deserve to hear 'you're a monster, how could you do that? You're the scum of Equestria and you are not fit to exist'." said Twilight angrily. Rarity sighed and looked down at the table again.

"Then say it Twilight. Go wake up Spike and-"

"BUT," said Twilight sharply, cutting off Rarity. "I won't say that, because I know that's just my emotion getting the better of me." She looked back at Rarity now. "You don't want that life anymore Rarity. I know that if you had the chance to go back to the beginning and stop yourself from ever killing anypony, you would do it in an instant. Even if you feel now that you did it for protection, you have caused yourself nothing but grief and sorrow. Just look at Sweetie Belle! I don't know in what sideways form the scars she gained by seeing the basement will come out, but she will have that image permanently engrained in her memory for the rest of her life. She will always have to remember that her big sister that she trusted with every fiber of her being secretly butchered other ponies. Heck, I'm gonna have permanent mental scars from what I saw."

Rarity didn't know what to say to this. Twilight was absolutely right of course, about everything.

"But," she continued. "I know that you would take every horrible minute back if you could. That you would do anything to make amends for the suffering that you have caused. You would even take back Gilda and Trixie if you could. When you were a little filly, before the horrible day in the woods happened, you would never have chosen this as the life for you. You would have been content going through your whole life never having harmed a fly...right?"

Rarity considered the question for a brief moment. On one hoof, she did believe that the world was better without the likes of some of the beings she had killed. On the other hoof, she seriously doubted whether any of it was worth it. Was killing ponies that hurt her friends worth the mental scars that came with it? Not just for her, but for her sister and her Twilight.

"Yes Twilight, I would take every horrible minute back if I could. I would mend the broken families, I would heal the bloody wounds, I would bring the dead back to life if I could. But Twilight, I can't do any of those things! I can't take back what I did!"

"None of us ever can Rarity," said Twilight softly. "None of us ever can."

"How do I live with what I've done?" asked Rarity desperately. "I'm afraid Twilight."

"You live with yourself the way the rest of us do: One day at a time," said Twilight. "Focus on the good memories you have in your past. Relish the blessings you have now. You gotta enjoy the little things. I know that your murders were a huge part of who you are, but now that they aren't, put it in the past. We all have mistakes that we've made. Even if yours is arguably the worst, everypony has made a mistake that changed their lives forever. Everypony lives with their mistakes whether they want to or not."

Rarity had stopped crying now and she actually managed to give Twilight a small smile.

"Thank you Twilight," she said. "I know that I don't deserve the help you are giving me, but that just makes me appreciate it even more." Twilight nodded. Rarity stood up and started to move towards the door.

"I feel that I've dumped too much on you for tonight and I have to go," said Rarity. Twilight nodded once again and Rarity walked towards the door.

She opened it up and took one last glance at Twilight. She was staring at the wall with a blank look on her face. Rarity sighed and walked out of Twilight's house.


	21. Dueling Banjos

It had been three days since Rarity's conversation with Twilight and things had not improved between the two of them, as much as Rarity wanted them to. Twilight was distant whenever the two of them interacted, no matter what the occasion was Pinkie Pie had thrown a party for some reason or another and while Twilight did seem to be having fun, Rarity could still sense that something was off.

At that moment, the six friends were all hanging out at the spa, as per Rarity's suggestion, and they all seemed to be having a wonderfully relaxing time. Rainbow Dash had finally given in and compromised by allowing herself to be given a back rub and based on her expression, it seemed that she had found this to be an excellent choice.

Applejack gave a contented sigh. "I gotta admit girls, I don't come here too often, but there are times when I wish I could afford to come more. This sure does beat cartin' apples around all day."

"Oh I certainly agree that it's nice to get out and relax for a little while. I've had a large order of dresses that I've been working on and it's so nice not having to concentrate on minute stitching for eight hours a day. What about you Twilight, are you enjoying your time?" said Rarity.

Twilight hardly glanced at Rarity but gave her a nod all the same. Rarity gave a small sigh. Would Twilight ever get over this?

Rarity scanned her friends to see how they were doing when she saw Applejack staring straight at her. Applejack had a contemplative look on her face but it was also one of worry. Rarity raised her eyebrow at her.

"Is something wrong Applejack?" she asked. Applejack frowned and stood up. She put on her cowpony hat and addressed the group.

"Sorry everypony, I have to get goin' now, I gotta get some lunch in me before I head back to the farm. You all just enjoy your stay here," she said.

"Oh, okay then," said Fluttershy.

"See ya later Applejack! Have a good day!" said Pinkie.

"Will to Pinkie Pie," said Applejack before she turned to Rarity. "Rarity, come have lunch with me," she said.

"Oh I really would love to Applejack but you see-"

"Rarity," said Applejack a little more sternly than before. "Come have lunch with me." The group looked at Applejack confusedly and Rarity gave a nervous giggle.

"Oh, well now that you mention it I am rather famished. I think I'll take you up on that then," said Rarity. Applejack nodded.

"Thank you," she said curtly.

"Well," said Rarity as she got up. "It was nice to see all of you again; I wish you a good day as well."

"TTFN Rarity!" said Pinkie happily.

"Yes, uh, TTFN to you too I suppose," said Rarity. She followed Applejack out of the spa without another word.

Applejack led Rarity towards a simply roadside cafe. They were seated almost immediately at a small table for two. The duo looked silently at their menus for a brief moment before a waiter took their order.

As they sat and waited for their food, Rarity felt the compulsive need to say something to Applejack. Applejack undoubtedly had something very important to say to Rarity as her request for Rarity to join her for lunch was undoubtedly not a request at all. Rarity was half-expecting to Applejack to tell her that she knew that Rarity was a serial killer.

After a few minutes of waiting in silence, their food arrived and Applejack immediately dug in. Rarity was slower to start eating her food. Every minute that passed in silence felt like an hour to her and it was pure torture. A few more minutes of this and Rarity would begin to lose her temper at Applejack, something that she didn't want to do at all.

Thankfully, Applejack looked up from her food and looked at Rarity. "I have something to talk to you about, Rarity." she said. Rarity desperately wanted to say 'no duh', but she refrained from doing so.

"Indeed?" she said. Applejack nodded.

"What's goin' on between you and Twilight? I aint no idiot and the way you two have been interactin' lately has got us all real worried 'bout you two." she said.

There was Applejack being the Element of Honesty again. Her bluntness often caught rarity off-guard and this was one of those times. Obviously there was no way that she could tell Applejack the truth, but she had to at least try to skim the surface of the issue. However, when she opened her mouth to speak, she found that no words came to her. Applejack frowned at her silence.

"Does it have anythin' to do with when we hit you with the Elements a few years back?" she asked. Rarity could at least respond with the truth with that question.

"Yes, yes it does," she said.

"It was a real bad thing, wasn't it?" asked Applejack. Rarity nodded.

"The reason that you had to cleanse me with the Elements was due to me...wanting to get rid of..." gosh, how in Equestria was she supposed to word this? "Certain memories and emotions brought on by some bad times in my life." It wasn't the best explanation, but it would have to do. It didn't seem to mollify Applejack though.

"If it's about that, if it's about somethin' good we did for you, then why is it still botherin' Twilight now? Come to think of it, what made her act like this around you only just recently? You would think that anythin' bad about that night would have been worked out between you two in the interim two years," said Applejack. Rarity sighed and took a bite of her sandwich. In a way, it was a blessing to have tough conversations like this while eating as Rarity found out that she had time to formulate an answer.

She swallowed her bite of sandwich. "I had hoped that that would be the case, yes. But it seems that there are still...issues that she is having about those events," said Rarity.

"But why!?" asked Applejack desperately. "What could you have possibly done or thought that would be so bad that Twilight would treat you like this two years after we fixed it? It can't have been sometin' like murder. Equestria hasn't seen a murder in over 300 years! Besides, the Elements wouldn't choose a murderer to wield them so I know that it can't be somethin' like that!"

With each naive word, Rarity's stomach clenched and the mask of normal emotion that she had been wearing for the past few days slowly began to slip. Applejack looked at her expectantly. Rarity lifted up her sandwich but it was quickly swatted down by Applejack.

"What's goin' on Rarity? I can't stand to see two of my best friends treatin' each other like this!" said Applejack. Rarity stared down at her half-eaten sandwich and wondered what in Equestria she could possibly say. Applejack gave a frustrated groan and pulled the plate away. "Now look Rarity, you were the first pony in our group that I met." Rarity's eyes snapped up and she looked at Applejack upon hearing this. "You were there for me the night that my parents died and even though you hardly knew me, you went with me to comfort me in my hour of need. Your sister had just been born that night, but you chose instead to give a grievin' girl an ear to listen when she needed it the most. I suppose its stuff like that that makes you the Element of Generosity."

Rarity tried her best to hold back tears upon hearing this. If only she knew. Applejack took a second to collect her thoughts before continuing on.

"It's for reasons like that that I'm honored to call you one of my closest friends. I want to be there to help you with your hard times, particularly ones that deal with your friendships, just like you were there to help me when I needed the most," said Applejack sadly.

"Even though it's in the past," said Rarity. "You would still disown me as a friend if I told you why I needed the Elements that night."

This appeared to really hit Applejack where it hurt and she looked like she was fighting back tears. "But Rarity, do you remember what Pinkie, Rainbow and I said back when you were in the hospital after you got hit by that taxi? We said that we would stick by you no matter what you did! We weren't lyin' Rarity!" said Applejack.

"I know you weren't," said Rarity softly.

"Then why can't you open up to me about this? What is so bad that Twilight is refusin' to speak to you right now about an incident that happened two years ago?" asked Applejack. "I mean, don't you trust us?"

"Of course I do darling!" said Rarity. "But there are just...certain things that are unforgivable, no matter how strong the bonds of friendship are." Applejack scoffed.

"What, did you roll the cart that killed my parents down the hill so it would run them over?" she asked angrily.

"Of course not!" said Rarity.

"Well then it can't be that bad, can it?" said Applejack sternly. Rarity ground her teeth together and she had to resist the urge to yell at Applejack for prying in places that she had no business going. However, she stood up and placed six bits on the table.

"Yes Applejack, I'm afraid that it truly is that bad. It is worse than you can possibly imagine and it was certainly worse than twilight could ever imagine," said Rarity. Applejack's eyes widened. Rarity's brain began to control her mouth and before Rarity could stop it, she said "If you truly want to know what it is, then follow me. If you really feel that you can handle literally anything that I can say, then follow me. Otherwise, I suggest you go home."

Applejack studied the table for a moment, clearly deep in thought. Eventually, she stood up. "Lead the way," she said simply. Rarity nodded.

Rarity led Applejack towards the edges of the Everfree Forest. As their journey continued and Applejack became aware of their destination, she got steadily more nervous. "You can bow out whenever you want to Applejack," said Rarity. Applejack shook her head.

"I ain't quittin' on this now," she said. Rarity was afraid of that.

Another ten minutes brought them to their destination. Rarity remembered it as the place where she had first learned that Applejack had a sister, the place where she had tried to lead Applejack to her death.

"We here?" asked Applejack. Rarity nodded.

"Applejack, if you want to leave now, I won't stop you. I promised that I would tell you someday and if you don't want that day to be today-"

"Rarity, just tell me."

"I mean, we can put this conversation off for months, even years if you want to and all you have to do is say the word!" said Rarity. She was becoming more and more hysterical with each sentence.

"Rarity, tell me," said Applejack.

"If you're sure you want to-"

"RARITY, TELL ME!"

"I MURDERED THREE FOALS!" Now it was out. Applejack's eyes widened and tears immediately began pouring from her face. She took a step back and Rarity wondered if she was going to run away.

"W...what did you say?" asked Applejack, hoping that she had heard Rarity wrong and that Rarity's real secret was something far less disturbing.

"I murdered three foals," repeated Rarity. Applejack took a second to process the news. She looked absolutely dumbfounded.

"W...why?" she asked. Rarity took a deep breath and began her story.

"It happened when I was only eight years old. It was the first day of school and I was immediately bullied by three of the nastiest foals one could ever meet. It upset me and my teacher let me relax in a creek to calm me down. It did wonders for me and I decided that that creek would be my special place where I could just be...Rarity." Applejack had stopped backing away and she was listening intently now. "I went back to the creek later that day to discover that the three of them had been waiting for me there. They told me they were going to beat me up and that nopony would care because my family was poor. In hindsight it was rather ridiculous, but at the time the thought of getting beaten within an inch of my life was too scary to me. When the leader came up to me to begin hitting me, I grabbed a rock and I hit him in the head with it. I didn't mean to kill him, but that's exactly what happened. In a panic, I killed the other two foals and threw their bodies into the Everfree Forest for the predators to dispose of."

Applejack was blinking very fast now and tears were still pouring from her face. She cleared her throat before speaking up.

"S...so what does that have to do with Twilight?" she asked.

"Twilight found out about it, in a story that I feel that I must save for another time, and she wanted to help me. You see, over the years, my guilt about the murders slowly began to get stronger and stronger. Eventually it got to the point where it was consuming me, even if I didn't show it. When Twilight found out, she immediately suggested that we use the Elements to cleanse my guilt. That's what we were doing with the Elements that night with Luna." Applejack nodded.

"So, why is she actin' all funny around you now?" she asked.

"A few days ago, she asked me details about it. You see, she hadn't pressed me for details when she had first found out but for whatever reason, she felt that she needed to know details about it. I think she wanted to help me if the issue ever re-surfaced. The details...were a bit much for her."

"I see," said Applejack. Rarity sighed.

"I take it you want nothing to do with me now, is that correct?" asked Rarity. Applejack shook her head.

"I just need some time away from you right now is all. But I Pinkie Promise that I won't tell anypony," she said. Without another word, Applejack turned around and walked away.

With her head low to the ground, Rarity made the journey back to Carousel Boutique. She felt that she needed a hot bubble bath and a good nap after the events of today. She certainly wasn't going to get any work done after her talk with Applejack.

All of a sudden, a familiar voice called out to her. "Hey Rarity, Rarity over here!"

Rarity snapped out of her thoughts and turned around to see the last pony that she expected to see right now. He gave her a goofy grin.

"It's me! Hayseed Turniptruck!"

"Oh, yes...how are you?" she said glumly.

"I'm doin' just fine. It's so nice to see ya again! Shoot, the last time I saw you, we was back in Canterlot!"

"Indeed we were," said Rarity. Oh how desperately she wished she could end this conversation and just get home. However, it seemed that Hayseed wouldn't leave her alone. Rarity walked back to Carousel Boutique and Hayseed followed her the entire way, talking her ear off the entire time.

After what seemed like hours, Rarity and Hayseed arrived at Rarity's home. By that point, Rarity was past mere irritation at Hayseed. She had dropped hints over and over again that he should leave, but the numbskull was too thick to pick up on any of them.

As she reached her front door, she turned back to Hayseed. "Well, it's been marvelous catching up with you, but I really must get back to work," she said curtly.

"Well shoot, we should totally talk some more! I leave for Canterlot tomorrow to do some jobs and we should totally get together again before I leave, ya know?" Rarity's anger exploded, but she managed to keep it internal.

"Hayseed, get inside," she said sternly. Hayseed was taken aback for a moment but he regained his composure and his goofy grin.

"Well I think that would be just wonderful! We can catch up even more while you work!" he said happily.

The two walked into Rarity's house and Rarity immediately walked over to her saddlebags and pulled out a syringe. She stuck it into Hayseed's neck without another word and he dropped to the ground.

Hayseed woke up in the same way that the rest of Rarity's victims did: strapped to the table in her basement. He looked around for a moment and whimpered in fear. Rarity wheeled the tray in front of him and gave him a cold stare. Hayseed tried to give a nervous laugh.

"R...Rarity, is this some kind of-"

"Eight. Separate. Times," said Rarity coldly. "I told you eight times to go away but you didn't listen! Why Hayseed, why didn't you listen to me!?" Hayseed opened his mouth and tried to babble out a few words, but he didn't say anything coherent. Rarity grabbed a large knife off of her tray and began cutting the skin around his left foreleg. Hayseed whimpered in pain before he began crying.

Rarity finished circling his foreleg with the knife and she began cutting under the skin to loosen it up before she placed the knife down. "R-R-Rarity, what are you-" Rarity grabbed the skin in her mouth and pulled as hard as she could. Hayseed screamed as loud as he could as all of the skin on his left foreleg was peeled off.

Rarity threw the skin aside and began working on the right side.

"Rarity, whatever I did, I'm sorry. Please stop doin' this!" said Hayseed desperately. Rarity gave a growl of anger and she levitated another knife into the air and she used it to pin Hayseed's left ear to the table.

"Shut. UP!" she said angrily as she began skinning his right foreleg too. Within a minute, his right foreleg was missin all of its skin too. Rarity leaned down a bit to begin skinning his right hind leg when he began talking again.

"Rarity, I...I've always liked you," he said weakly. "I mean, I really liked you in a sort of 'I had a crush on you' way."

At this, Rarity shot up and with a look of pure fury in her eyes, she stared into his eyes. "What. Did. You. SAY!?" she screeched.

"I...I..." Before he could continue, Rarity let out a cry of anger and she stabbed the knife into his legs before kicking over her tray. The knives scattered all over the place and she angrily began to clean them up. She became aware of Hayseed's whimpering and her anger rose even more and she picked up the tray and began hitting him with it.

The force with which she pummeled Hayseed with the tray would have cracked boulders. She hit him in every spot she could reach, in the head, the stomach, his skinless forelegs, she even used the tray to drive the knife further into his leg. Hayseed gave cries of pain that eventually began to get weaker and weaker.

After a few minutes of non-stop beating, she threw the bloody tray down. Hayseed was still alive but had been beaten into an almost unrecognizable bloody mess. Rarity looked down and used her magic to grab a knife from off of the floor. She placed the tip on Hayseed's forehead and put her hoof on the handle.

Hayseed spit out some blood and a few teeth before uttering his last words. "Rarity…why?"

Rarity shoved the knife into his skill and he was gone.

Rarity stepped back to admire her handy-work. To her surprise, she felt...empty. Normally a kill did a lot for her emotionally, it replenished her in a way. But as she stared at the bloody mess that used to be Hayseed Turniptruck, she felt...nothing.

As she looked over the corpse, her jaw dropped slightly as the realization of what she had just done hit her. "W...why did I do that?" she said softly to herself. "He was annoying, but why did I do that to him?"

She began blinking very fast and taking sharper breaths. "Hayseed...I'm so sorry. If you can hear me now, I'm so sorry I just..." She walked back over to his body and pulled the knives out of his head and leg. She then grabbed a washcloth and began cleaning the blood off of his face. It was a mostly lost cause as the blood pouring from the fatal wound on his head undid anything she had done, but she continued on all the same.

After a short while, Rarity noticed that the bleeding had mostly stopped and Hayseed's face looked more like it had before she had done this terrible thing to him. She used her magic to close his eyes and after a few moments of silence, she cleaned herself off and went back upstairs.

A few minutes passed, which Rarity spent sitting at her kitchen table, before anything happened. As it was, the thing that happened was Rarity's doorbell rang. She slowly got up and went to go answer it. To her surprise, she found Applejack on the other side of her door.

"Oh, Applejack, please come in!" she said. Applejack nodded and slowly walked in. Rarity could see that Applejack had been crying.

Rarity led Applejack to her kitchen table where the two of them sat down. The two sat in silence for a moment (in a scene that uncomfortably reminded Rarity of their lunch earlier that day) before Applejack spoke up.

"I was thinkin' long and hard about what to do after you told me...that," said Applejack quietly. "I knew that I wasn't gonna turn you in, but a lot of me didn't want to have anythin' to do with you either."

"Applejack, I-" began Rarity, but Applejack held up a hoof to silence her.

"But then I really thought about the story, how you said that it was mostly self-defense on your part, particularly the first one," she said. Applejack looked up at Rarity and it seemed that she was about to begin crying again. "I know you Rarity; I know that if you had the choice, you would never have done it. You only did it because you felt helpless and that was the only thing you thought you could do to protect yourself from them. I realized that I can't blame you for protecting yourself, even if the way you did it was so very wrong."

"I never wanted it to happen and to this day, I still wish I could take it back," said Rarity sadly. Applejack nodded.

"I know you do," she said. "I know you do."

Applejack stood up and held out her forelegs, inviting Rarity into a hug. Rarity stood up and the two hugged each other.

In that moment, the flood of emotions that Rarity had tried to repress throughout this whole affair hit her and she began to cry. She began to weep into Applejack's shoulder and Applejack began to rub Rarity's back.

"It'll be okay," she said soothingly. "Everything will be okay Rarity, just you wait and see. Just you wait and see."


	22. Intro to Psychology

Inhale

Exhale

Inhale

Exhale

Exhale

Exhale

Try inhaling once more

Inhaleexhaleinhaleexhaleinha leexhale

Blink blink blink.

Some days are so bad that by the end of them you need all of your brainpower just to perform basic bodily functions, thought Rarity.

And today was certainly one of those days.

She didn't understand it, it had started out so well! The final stitch had been placed in her latest masterpiece, The Cotton Harvest. It was a pure white dress that almost shone in the light as if Celestia herself had bent the laws of reality to create the best dress in the history of Equestria.

And it had all been ruined in one fell swoop.

It had started when a pair of rich ponies from Hoofington had come into her shop looking for a dress such as that one to wear to one of the biggest dinner parties of the year. Oh yes, the mare in question had wanted to look beyond fabulous so as to make all of her friends as jealous as she could. Well, The Cotton Harvest would have certainly achieved that if it had survived their visit.

You see, the couple brought their foals with them and as they were such important clients, Rarity had broken her rule about foals not being allowed near her dresses for any reason whatsoever. She didn't even make clothes for foals so what reason did they have to be around her dresses anyway?

Having said that, it could have not been a problem if the foals were well behaved and at first they actually were very well behaved. They were polite to Rarity and didn't touch anything that they weren't supposed to and they followed the rules very nicely. However, foals would be foals and it didn't take too long for them to become very restless as foals will often do in subdued settings. So, with a remarkable lack of foresight, the foals began wrestling with each other. Oh sure it was playful wrestling, but it was wrestling nonetheless and soon all three adults in the room were yelling at them to stop the nonsense right away before they did something foolish!

Too late. The foals wrestled themselves directly into the mannequin that displayed The Cotton Harvest and it toppled over with a loud crash.

Normally that wouldn't have been a problem because all Rarity would need to do would be put the mannequin upright and there would be no harm done. Even if there was a small tear, Rarity could have it fixed in no time and the couple would walk out of the shop with one of the best dresses that Rarity had ever created.

But it was the fact that both foals were carrying cups filled with strawberry juice from a local restaurant that made the situation go from 'irritating but tolerable' to 'I might just break the 'No foals' rule again and I'm gonna enjoy it oh so much'.

She didn't of course as the couple would undoubtedly have told their friends where they were headed and if they disappeared then an investigations on the matter would lead to Rarity herself. She did not want that to happen ever.

Of course, the fact that the dress was totally destroyed and she didn't get a cent in damages would have been bad enough, but the day had actually managed to spiral downhill from there.

Firstly, she found that there was no food in her house to speak of which meant that she would have to go out to eat. Or at least, that's what she would have done if it wasn't a national holiday and all of the stores and restaurants in town weren't closed. Oh, and on top of that, the apples from Sweet Apple Acres hadn't ripened yet so that option was out. Twilight was out of town so no-go there. Rainbow was working all day, Sugarcube Corner was closed, and Fluttershy was busy tending to animals...so there was no food to be had.

But fate wasn't even close to done with her. Oh no, not by a long shot.

Rarity had decided to take a relaxing bath in the hopes that some of the stress of the day would wash away and she could breathe again. She had turned the knobs on the tub with her magic and to her total surprise, they broke off and water began gushing out of the hold like nothing else she had ever seen. It had taken over an hour to stem the flow, fix the tub, and clean up all of the water that had come out.

Overall, it wasn't one of her better days.

Rarity rolled over in her bed and looked at her clock to see what time it was. She was shocked to see that it was 10:00 in the morning. The day had hardly begun and already so many horrid things had happened to her!

She buried her face in her pillow and screamed as loud as she could. Admittedly it felt good to let her anger out through her screams but it did begin to hurt after a few minutes so she stopped.

This was going to continue to be a terrible day, wasn't it?

Rarity decided that she had better get up or else she would go crazy just sitting in her room. She felt like designing a new dress today so that her morning wouldn't be a total waste.

She entered her workroom, closed her eyes, and fired up her horn. She didn't know why, but she felt like she needed to design her dress with her eyes closed. Instinct was a helpful thing to possess as a dressmaker and it had never failed her yet. She had designed some of her best dresses with her eyes closed as a matter of fact and she had high expectations for this one as well.

Within a few minutes, that tiny voice of instinct in the back of her mind told her that the dress was ready. She giggled in excitement, opened her eyes, and let out an ear-piercing shriek. What she saw before her was something that could only be described as a hideous mess and even that hardly seemed to do it justice. The stitching was something that she could see a mere foal topping if it hardly tried, she had somehow sewn vertical stripes unevenly on the shoulders, it had five legs instead of four and it already seemed to be falling apart.

Rarity simply stared at it for a few moments before she walked over to it, turned around, and bucked it against the wall. It hit the wall with a resounding crash and to Rarity's utter lack of surprise, the force of the mannequin hitting the wall knocked a large hole in the wall.

However, as Rarity examined the dress even more, she saw something that interested her: the entire dress was blood red.

She raised an eyebrow and cocked her head. She hadn't killed since Hayseed Turniptruck three weeks ago and she had not felt the slightest urge since then. Her conversation with Applejack immediately after the murder had drained her of all desire to kill, something that completely surprised her. Clearly she needed to kill again soon as her subconscious had clearly just told her. The 'dress' she had just made had suddenly taken on meaning! Her mind was telling her to not focus on dresses for a while, but instead she had to kill again!

She used her magic to drag the mannequin over to her and when it was close enough, she placed her forelegs on the head of the mannequin and crushed it with one stomp. The feeling of plastic shattering under her hooves was oddly satisfying which only strengthened her resolve to replace it with an actual pony.

She grabbed her saddlebag and filled it with the potato sack, a syringe, and a steak knife before heading out the door.

In a bizarre reflection of her mood, the weather in Ponyville was actually overcast and very gloomy. Why in Equestria would the Pegasi schedule an overcast day on a national holiday!?

Oh well, at least it meant that almost everypony was inside relaxing and as such, they wouldn't be bothering Rarity too much.

As Rarity continued to walk around Ponyville in search of a new victim, she was rewarded by the sight of a pony sitting on a bench with a notebook and a pen in her hooves. Rarity was delighted to see that she had never met this pony before and as such, she must be from out of town. She would be absolutely perfect for Rarity's needs today.

"Hello!" she said to the pony as she walked up to her. "How are you this...uh, overcast morning?"

The pony, a gray Pegasus with a question mark for a cutie mark looked up at Rarity and flashed her a large smile.

"I'm doing well, how are you?" she asked happily.

"Oh I'm just wonderful darling, simply wonderful. I must say that I don't recognize you. Are you from out of town?" The Pegasus nodded.

"Yep, I'm headed off to a psychology convention in Trottingham and I decided to stop through Ponyville to do some research before heading over," she said.

"Psychology you say?" asked Rarity in interest. "What do you do with that?"

"Oh I'm studying to be a psychiatrist," she said, pointing to her notebook. "I'm currently observing Ponyville." Rarity cocked her head.

"But darling, there's nopony outside right now!" said Rarity confusedly. The mare shrugged.

"Every now and again somepony comes by and I ask them a few questions but I kinda like the silence," she said as she leaned back. "Don't you enjoy just sitting on a bench in a completely deserted town, imagining that a plague of sorts has swept through it or something like that?"

"Uh, plague?" asked Rarity. The mare chuckled.

"Not the best analogy is it?" she said. "I guess I just like seeing the contrast between when the town is busy and when there is nopony in sight. I've been here for a few days now and I've seen what the town looks like when the weather is wonderful."

"Is the contrast interesting?" asked Rarity.

"Oh it most certainly is!" she said eagerly. "Haven't you ever just wanted to sit on a bench and see a completely deserted town, imagining what will happen when ponies fill the streets again?"

"Uh, no, I can't say that I have," said Rarity. The mare smiled at her and patted the open spot on the bench next to her. Rarity walked over to her and sat down beside her.

The duo sat in total silence for a few minutes, just observing the world around them. Rarity had to admit, it was pretty peaceful.

"It's magnificent in its own way, isn't it?" asked the mare. Rarity nodded.

"I've never quite seen anything like it. The town is just so...quiet," said Rarity. The mare nodded.

"By the way, I never did catch your name," she said.

"Oh, of course," said Rarity. "My name is Rarity. I design dresses here in Ponyville."

"They any good?"

"The best!" said Rarity as she sat up a little and puffed out her chest. "I design ensembles for the Grand Galloping Gala every year!" The mare looked impressed.

"I'll bet that's exciting!" she said. "I'm Krissy by the way."

"Krissy," echoed Rarity. "What an interesting name."

"I'll take that as a compliment," said Krissy.

"I must say that you look rather young," said Rarity.

"That's because I'm seventeen," she said. Rarity raised an eyebrow. Sure it was above her cutoff age, but she had never actually killed a pony that young.

The pair sat in silence for a few more minutes before Rarity was struck with an idea.

"So Krissy, is this convention you are attending very formal?" asked Rarity. Krissy sighed and nodded.

"Aspects of it are. There is some fancy dinner where a bunch of famous psychologists stand up and tell themselves how awesome they are for hours on end. There are three of those stupid things actually."

"Do you have anything fancy to wear?" asked Rarity. Krissy shrugged.

"Not really. I don't have the kind of money that would allow me to afford one at any rate. I was disowned about a year ago for not wanting to work on my family's orange farm you see," said Krissy.

"Well, the fashionista in me simply couldn't allow you to attend a fancy dinner without looking your best!" she said as she stood up. "You simply must come back to my shop to try some things on! I'll give you a huge discount on some of my best dresses!" Krissy gave Rarity an amused smile but she stood up and followed Rarity back to the boutique. As they walked, Rarity continued their conversation. "So, how long have you been studying psychology?" she asked.

"Well, about three years now. I saw some textbooks in my local library and I just fell in love with the subject immediately. I got my cutie mark a few days later," she said.

"So could you analyze a pony's mind if you needed to?" asked Rarity interestedly as the duo approached Carousel Boutique. Krissy laughed.

"I suppose I could, though not as well as some of the ponies that I'm going to meet this weekend. Why, do you want me to analyze you?" Rarity shrugged.

"I imagine that I would be an interesting case study," said Rarity as she opened the door to her store. Krissy cocked her head.

"Why is that?" she asked interestedly. Rarity gave her a knowing smile.

"Oh, I have some...interesting personality traits," said Rarity. Krissy gave an amused scoff.

"Like what? Are you some kind of psycho or something? That would be interesting," she said with a chuckle. Rarity copied her chuckle, opened her saddlebag, and pulled out the syringe.

"Actually yes," she said with a grin and before Krissy could react, Rarity stuck the needle in her neck.

Krissy's eyes went wide and she slowly tried to back away but the drug did its work and soon she was unconscious on the floor. Rarity smiled fondly at the sleeping Pegasus. This one would be interesting.

Krissy awoke twenty minutes later to find herself strapped down to a large table in a dark basement. She tried to struggle out of the straps but it was no use. She was definitely stuck here.

"Uh, hello?" she said in a frightened voice. "Rarity, are you there?"

"Yes I'm here darling," said Rarity from behind her. Krissy gave a weak chuckle.

"Uh, what's going on here?" she asked nervously. "Is this some kind of joke?"

Rarity walked in front of her and used her magic to place the table vertically before levitating her cloth covered tray in front of her.

"I'm afraid not darling," said Rarity gravely. "No, this is very, very, very real."

Rarity's horn fired up and the basement lit up revealing the horrors inside. Krissy's eyes widened as she saw the pony pelts that adorned Rarity's walls as well as the cut off faces and the manes and tails. She let out an eardrum shattering shriek of pure terror. Rarity gave a yell of anger and her hoof connected with the side of Krissy's face. Krissy stopped screaming and began spitting out blood.

"Don't yell," said Rarity simply. Krissy coughed up more blood.

"I think you knocked a tooth loose," she said in a manner that clearly indicated that she was on the verge of tears.

"I did?" said Rarity. "Yes, I do that sometimes. I can remove it if you want me to. It'll just come out anyway at some point." Krissy clamped her mouth shut and shook her head as Rarity used her magic to pick up a pair of pliers. "Oh don't be silly darling, it's no trouble at all! If you just open your mouth and hold still then it can be over much faster. Or I can use my magic to force your mouth open and I can take two...no, three teeth. How does that sound?"

Tears began falling from Krissy's eyes and she took a deep breath and shakily opened her mouth.

"That's a good girl," said Rarity soothingly. "I'll just be done in a second. Now, which one is it?"

"Third one from the back on the right," said Krissy shakily. Rarity nodded and clamped the pliers over the tooth in question. She used her magic to tighten the pliers more and more and was satisfied to see that the pliers were crushing the tooth. Krissy sobbed in pain but with a single yank the crushed tooth came out. Blood began dripping from Krissy's mouth and she squealed in pain.

"You know what? I actually have a painkiller here, would you like that for your gums? I can close up the hole too, would you like that?" said Rarity soothingly. Krissy nodded and Rarity levitated another syringe over to her before she injected it into Krissy's gums. She then used her magic to pack gauze into the hole which did a decent job of plugging it up.

"Why are you doing this?" asked Krissy shakily.

"You know what? That's for me to know and you to find out!" said Rarity excitedly. "You see, I've always been curious as to the exact reason of why I do what I do, scientifically speaking that is, and you're going to help me figure it out!"

"You do it because you enjoy butchering ponies. You enjoy the feeling of power that you get when..."

"Oh come now darling, surely you can do better than that! I mean, you don't even know my back story yet!" said Rarity.

"Why would I want to?"

"You're a psychologist! You have a unique opportunity to study the mind of Equestria's only serial killer, doesn't that interest you?"

"So the rumors are true then," said Krissy. Rarity raised her eyebrow.

"Uh...beg pardon?" asked Rarity. Krissy gave a weak chuckle.

"Well, over the past fifteen years or so, ponies have been disappearing every now and again without a trace. It happens sometimes of course, but it's the 'without a trace' part that interests a lot of ponies. There were even rumors of a serial killer in Equestria but almost everypony doesn't take it seriously. I guess they're wrong then."

Rarity's jaw dropped in shock. There were ponies that suspected that a pony like her existed! Somepony had actually connected the disappearances!?

"I...whuh...they do...I...," babbled Rarity. Krissy gave a weak smile at seeing her captor in shock like this.

"Yep," she said smugly. "They do." Rarity's eye twitched but she shook her head violently.

"No matter," she said resolutely. "I'll deal with that when the time comes." Krissy's smile faded.

"Are you going to kill me?" she asked in a horrified whisper. Rarity rolled her eyes.

"Well duh," she said. "What am I supposed to do, let you go?"

"It'd be nice," said Krissy.

"Well I'm sorry Krissy, but I simply can't. Even if I'd like to, and I don't, I still wouldn't." Rarity's ears suddenly drooped and she looked as if she was about to cry. "I...I didn't even do it for...them." she said sadly.

"T...them?" asked Krissy. Rarity nodded and turned the table around. Krissy saw a large blanket covering some sort of a pony shaped lump. Rarity used her magic and lifted up the blanket. Krissy had to hold back another shriek, lest she lose another tooth, when she saw what was underneath. Two ponies, a mother and her filly, were standing next to each other. They had been stuffed and preserved. The corners of their mouths had been sewn upwards so that their mouths formed a macabre smile and light blue buttons had been sewn over their eyes. The colors of their coats and manes had dulled a bit so they were a mere shadow of their former looks.

Rarity looked at the two of them and her pupils shrank to almost nothing. Her left ear twitched and she let out an insane giggle.

"S-s-s-ee? N-n-now they c-c-c-and be tog-g-g-ether f-f-forever!" said Rarity hysterically. Krissy shut her eyes tight, hoping that if she stopped looking at the stuffed ponies then they would cease to exist and the memory wouldn't be burned into her mind forever.

Krissy heard Rarity let loose a few sobs before she regained control. Krissy felt the table turn back around and she opened her eyes to see Rarity put the blanket back over them. She took a few deep breaths and she calmed down before turning back to her former demeanor.

She walked back over to stand in front of Krissy and cleared her throat. "If I didn't do it for...them, then I certainly won't do it for you," said Rarity.

"You didn't want to kill them," said Krissy softly. A single tear rolled down Rarity's face.

"It was a huge misunderstanding," she said sadly. "By the time I realized that the mother was not the kind of mother that I thought she was, I immediately wanted to let them go but by then it was too late. I promise you that I made it quick for both of them."

"How noble of you," said Krissy sarcastically. Rarity frowned at her.

"Don't be sarcastic with me darling. It is most unbecoming," said Rarity sternly before adopting a more business-like tone. "Now then, what do you need to know to psycho-analyze me?" Krissy opened her mouth to say something but she closed it again. "Oh come now, surely you have something in mind,"

'Why are you doing this?" asked Krissy.

"Well, I murder in general because I was forced to murder three bullies at age eight. I'm doing this to you because I've had a bad day. Does that answer your question?"

"You're going to kill me...because you had a bad day!?" said Krissy.

"Oh but it wasn't just a bad day, it was truly horrendous!" said Rarity "Imagine if you wrote a psychology book and then the carelessness of two foals undid all of your work and you had to start from scratch!"

"I still wouldn't go off and kill somepony!" said Krissy.

"Well that's because you are not a serial killer darling. I am so that's exactly what I'm doing," said Rarity. "Now are you going to psycho-analyze me or not?"

"I wouldn't even know where to begin," said Krissy weakly. Rarity sighed and picked up a hacksaw.

"How about your hind legs?" she said. Krissy's eyes widened and she tried to struggle out of the straps once more. Rarity rolled her eyes and used her magic to hold Krissy's left hind leg down. She placed the hacksaw in the middle of the front of Krissy's hoof and began sawing away. Krissy screamed in pain but Rarity didn't pay any attention to her. As she cut deeper, Rarity felt the center of the hoof become harder and she had to increase her power to cut through it all the way. However, before too long she had cut the hoof in half and the bottom half of Krissy's hoof fell to the floor.

Rarity picked up the bottom half of the hoof and examined the inside.

"I've never seen the inside of a hoof before. Huh, kind of an oversight in my opinion, what do you think?" asked Rarity. Krissy merely groaned in pain and she began weakly flapping her wings. Rarity looked at them with interest. "Did you know that I've killed a griffin before?" she asked. Krissy continued weakly flapping her wings. "Well it's true," continued Rarity. "And would you believe that I forgot to mutilate her wings? I mean, can you believe that?"

"Go to Tartarus," whispered Krissy. Rarity giggled at that.

"You know what? That's exactly what she said to me too. In fact, I've actually gotten that quite a bit but no matter, I have some wings to get to work on!"

"Please don't!" said Krissy. Rarity sighed.

"While I'm doing that, I would like you to read the poster in front of you so that you know what not to say to me while you're down here," said Rarity. "I promise you that I've heard it all before and it gets irritating."

Rarity placed her hoof on Krissy's right wing and grabbed a steak knife from her tray. She aimed it directly on the main bone and slammed it through the bone, slicing through it in one stab effectively pinning the wing to the table. Krissy screamed in pain once more which made Rarity roll her eyes.

She then picked up a skinning knife and began slicing the skin off of the wing. She was frustrated to see that for whatever reason, Krissy's skin on her wing wasn't slicing right so instead of one long strip of exposed muscle and bone, she was left with several small pieces. Krissy thrashed about the entire time Rarity was skinning her wing.

"Please stop thrashing about dear, you're making me lose my concentration," said Rarity.

"Good," said Krissy. Rarity gave an amused grin. She liked it when her victims had spirit. She peeled off one more piece of skin before she placed the knife back on the tray. She had made some good progress on it.

"You know what?" said Rarity. "I want you to ask me to kill you."

"What?" asked Krissy confusedly. "Why would I do that?"

"Well because the pain is unbearable or something like that. I'm trying to break your spirit you see. I like spirit but defiance can get annoying after a while, don't you agree?"

"Never," whispered Krissy. Rarity merely shrugged.

"Your call," she said before picking up a smaller knife. "I think I'm going to try cutting off your eyelids now," she said. Krissy opened her eyes wide so that Rarity couldn't get to her eyelids. "I can work with that too," she said.

Rarity leaned in close and brought the knife right up to Krissy's right eye. She then began to lightly scratch Krissy's cornea with the blade of the knife. Krissy yelped in pain and immediately shut her eye. Rarity seized her chance and began cutting off her eyelid. She was delighted at how sharp her blades were and within a few seconds she tossed aside the severed eyelid.

"Back to the eye!" she said happily. Sure enough she began scratching the cornea once more; only this time she began pushing the blade in deeper with each scratch. Krissy was wildly thrashing about not but it was becoming steadily weaker. Rarity was disappointed in that. She hadn't even caused her to really bleed yet!

Rarity readjusted her grip on the knife and suddenly shoved the knife into Krissy's eye as deep as it would go. Krissy screamed in pain but Rarity wasn't done yet. She moved the knife around, trying to dig out Krissy's eyeball. It wasn't long before she had done just that and she held the sliced open eyeball in her hooves. To her irritation, Krissy just would not stop screaming in pain. So, in a stroke of sefl0proclaimed brilliance, Rarity shoved the eyeball down Krissy's throat. Krissy stopped screaming and began choking on her own eyeball. It took her a few seconds to spit it out.

"Do you want me to kill you yet?" asked Rarity sweetly.

"I...I..." said Krissy. Rarity knew that the idea was suddenly tempting to Krissy. "No," she finally said.

"Very well," she said. "I think I'll cut off your other wing then." Krissy flinched and her other wing began beating rapidly.

Rarity picked up her butcher knife and slammed it into the base of the wing. She pulled it out to see that she had made excellent progress and the wing was already half off. Not to mention the fact that it wasn't beating anymore. She slammed the knife down once more and the bone severed neatly and the wing fell to the floor. Rarity picked it up and examined it. No, not good enough for her wall.

"I can keep this going all night if need be," said Rarity. "Just say the words and I'll slit your throat."

Krissy didn't respond. She merely sobbed in terror and pain while still weakly trying to get out.

"No? You don't want me to kill you?" said Rarity.

"I...I...do it," she said. Rarity grinned happily.

"Do what?" she asked in an overly sweet voice.

"K-k-k-kill me," said Krissy as she hung her head in defeat.

"Say the magic words," said Rarity.

"Please. Please kill me now."

Rarity placed the butcher knife back on her tray and sighed.

"No."

"N...no?" asked a horrified Krissy.

"Yes, 'no'," said Rarity. "As I've said before, I'm interested to see you psychoanalyze me. I mean, yes you're only seventeen and all but I would like you to give it your best shot!"

"I...I can't," she said.

"Why in Equestria not, darling?" asked Rarity.

"I...I...I don't even, I just..." said Krissy before she completely dissolved into tears. Rarity looked at her uneasily.

"Uh, Krissy darling, are you o..." Rarity stopped her question. The poor thing had just had her wings, one eye, and an eyelid mutilated or removed so no, no she was most certainly not okay. Krissy was weakly struggling to get out of the straps and openly weeping. "Oh darling," said Rarity sympathetically. "Please don't cry, it'll be okay soon! This won't last forever. I just want to talk to you about my mind!" Krissy did not stop crying and Rarity went over and stroked her mane. "Oh I know that this hurts, I can get you another shot for the pain, would that be okay with you?"

"Please," whispered Krissy. "Just let me go." Rarity gave a frustrated sigh.

"You know I can't do that and I wouldn't even if I could now do you want the shot for the pain or not?" she said. Krissy nodded and Rarity used her magic to fix up a syringe with anesthesia and inject it into Krissy's left foreleg. "I've given you enough to dull the pain, but not so much that you'll be completely out of it," she said. Krissy merely turned her head away from Rarity as the pain meds took hold.

After a few minutes, Rarity turned her head back. "Are you feeling better?" she asked. Krissy scoffed.

"Physically yes, mentally, not a chance," she said. Rarity smiled. The pain meds were also designed to relax Krissy and it seemed to be doing its job.

"Well at least you aren't in as much pain as before right?" said Rarity. Krissy mumbled angrily but Rarity ignored it. "Now then, I still want us to have a psychological session, if you will, before the meds wear off so we should probably get started with that, don't you think?" Krissy groaned.

"Why is that so important to you!?" she asked angrily. "You already mutilated me, why not just finish the job?"

"Well if you were like this, wouldn't you be curious to know what a psychiatrist would think about you?" asked Rarity. Krissy gave a frustrated sigh.

"I already told you, you do it to feel powerful when you feel powerless," she said. Rarity rolled her eyes.

"Oh come now, that's the diagnosis that the ponies of yesteryear gave The Canterlot Killer. Surely in the interim 300 years psychiatry has advanced? I know you can do better," said Rarity.

"Okay...why do you think you do it?" she asked.

"Well, I can tell you that I started when I murdered three schoolyard bullies when I was a filly," she said. Krissy's eyes widened in horror.

"You've been doing this since you were just a filly!?" she said. Rarity smiled and nodded.

"Oh sure, the first kill was self-defense, they were going to beat me up and I hit the leader on the head with a rock, but the other two weren't. I did those because I could," said Rarity.

"Well...did you hurt small animals before then as a filly?"

"Oh, never, darling! I haven't ever hurt an animal," she said. "Don't be stereotypical. I assure you that I am not like any serial killer in Equestrian history."

"So the first kill was self-defense and you got a taste for it," said Krissy. Rarity smiled and nodded.

"My fourth and fifth kills were the parents of the first filly I killed," she said happily. Krissy closed her eye and gave a weak groan. "Oh dear," said Rarity. "Are the pain meds wearing off already?" she asked. Krissy shook her head.

"No, I'm just trying to get my bearings here...okay, why did you kill the other two foals?" she said. "The first one was both accidental and self-defense if your story is true, so why the other two?"

"Well," said Rarity thoughtfully. "I think that I did it in the heat of the moment. It's like you said, I guess I got a taste for it."

"How did you kill them?" asked Krissy. Rarity giggled.

"I repeatedly bashed the second over the head with the same rock I used to kill the other two and then I bashed the third one in the head, snapped off her horn with the rock, and buried her alive."

"Why so brutal?" asked Krissy.

"Beg pardon?"

"I mean, did you have to bury her alive? Couldn't you have just done it quickly and painlessly?" asked Krissy. Rarity frowned and mulled it over for a moment.

"Well...I suppose that I could have," she said.

"But you didn't want to. You wanted to make her suffer."

"I suppose I did," said Rarity who began idly organizing the knives on her tray.

"You wanted to have power over her, to show that you were the one in control now."

"Uh...I suppose if you want to think of it that way then-"

"So what I said before is true, you do it just to feel powerful," said Krissy. Rarity frowned at her.

"Wong darling," she said. "I mostly do it for protection for either myself or my friends. I always make sure that the pony deserves it!"

"What did I do to deserve this!?" said Krissy. Rarity noticed that her breathing was becoming more labored. The pain meds were starting to wear off.

"Oh, well it's like I said, I was having kind of a bad day," she said. She was becoming a little uneasy with what Krissy was saying now.

"You said that you kill to protect your friends," said Krissy. "Can I get an example?"

"Oh, um yes, of course," said Rarity. "Well, do you see the pelt on my wall over there? The one splattered with paint? Well, she called herself 'The Great and Powerful Trixie' and she did some very nasty things to my friends and myself as well."

"She bullied them," said Krissy.

"She most certainly did," said Rarity.

"So you killed her."

"I think that we can reasonably assume that, yes."

You know that nothing you have said has proved me wrong, right?" said Krissy. Rarity raised her eyebrow.

"How so?" she asked.

"You kill to feel powerful," said Krissy. "You first killed after a moment of extreme helplessness and you realized that it was a way to have ultimate power and control. You kill ponies that bully your friends because you don't want them to experience what you had to go through. You feel helpless when you see them treated that way so you-" Krissy gasped in pain. The meds were wearing off quickly now. Krissy took a few moments to regain her train of thought. "You kill so you regain control of a helpless situation."

"N...no that's not true darling," said Rarity.

"Why not?" asked Krissy. "Why do you kill then if not for that reason?"

"I kill for protection, not control. I was protecting my friends from Trixie's cruelty!"

"Who were you protecting from me?" asked Krissy.

"I...I..."

"Yourself," said Krissy. "You said that you were having a bad day, right? You didn't have control over your situation so in response, you decided to gain control over something by killing. You're addicted to the power that you feel when you hold another pony's life in your hooves."

Rarity's feeling of unease grew. Surely this mere foal didn't know what she was talking about.

"Do you think that what you are doing is noble? Have you ever thought that?" asked Krissy who began slightly writing in pain.

"Well no, but I..."

"But nothing," said Krissy. "You are no better than the schoolyard bullies! You said that you think that you are a unique and special case but you're not! When you get to the core of the issue, you kill for the exact same reason as The Canterlot Killer or The Fillydelphia Butcher or the Red River Killer! You do it to feel powerful!"

"Shut up," said Rarity.

"Your case is so simple based on what I've heard that any psychiatrist would have you completely figured out in five minutes. Heck, I did it with no wings, one eye, and looped up on pain meds."

"Shut up!"

"You have no new mental diseases, not split personalities waging war in your mind, no unique aspect of your brain that would make your case special! You're just a pony who gets scared when she feels powerless and so she decides to gain ultimate power over a pony by holding his or her life in her hooves. There are thousands of ponies just like you out there, you just happen to let it out by killing."

Rarity began crying now. This filly obviously didn't know what she was talking about! She was just making things up to get back at Rarity for...well...cutting off her wings and shoving her eyeball down her throat. She backed up against the wall and sat down on the floor, sobbing openly.

"You're wrong," she muttered. "You're wrong, you don't know me. I'm not like that."

She heard Krissy beginning to thrash about and groan in pain now. The meds had certainly worn off by now. The room was silent for a few minutes, save for Rarity's sobs and Krissy's groans of pain.

"M-mercy isss a f-f-form of p-power too," said Krissy through the pain. Rarity looked up at her.

"I suppose you want me to let you go," she said as she wiped her eyes. With a lot of difficulty, Krissy shook her head.

"N-n-no. I know y-y-you won't. Please just m-m-make it quick," she said.

Rarity stood up and walked over to her tray. She picked up her skinning knife and turned back to Krissy.

"Is that all you have to say about me darling?" she asked. "That I just do this to feel powerful?" Krissy nodded which prompted a sigh from Rarity. "Well, it was a valiant effort, I suppose, but I guess that you really don't know what you are talking about. So, as punishment for an incorrect diagnosis..."

Rarity leaned in close to Krissy with the skinning knife and placed the knife on her right foreleg. Krissy tensed up and tried moving the leg out of the restraint.

"N-n-no! Please, don't do this!" she said. "Please just make it quick!" Rarity began slicing Krissy's foreleg with the knife and Krissy screamed in pain.

"I'm sorry, but you had your chance to actually give an effort for what I asked you to do," she said. "You clearly just spouted off a bunch of textbook knowledge instead of actually trying."

"No!" said Krissy. "Why w-w-would I do that?" Rarity shrugged.

"I don't know darling, I don't know."

Rarity finished slicing her foreleg and she grabbed the sliced flap of skin in her teeth and pulled as hard as she could.

An hour later, Rarity walked back upstairs after washing herself off. She sighed. It seemed that she would have to find a real psychologist if she wanted to get a real diagnosis of what she was. Krissy clearly didn't know what in Equestria she was talking about. Rarity killed to protect her friends, not to feel powerful!

Then why did she kill ponies like Hayseed and Krissy? They were innocent of that crime.

She shook her head. No, she wasn't that simple! Her motives were far more complex and interesting than Krissy could possibly imagine! She couldn't be read that easily!

Right?


	23. Magic, Apples, and Reckoning

That stupid foal didn't know what she was taking about! Rarity was far more complex than 'I do it to feel powerful', that was a very base explanation. Really now, why in Equestria would she do it just to feel powerful? She did it to protect her friends! She did it because she...she...

If Krissy was so wrong then why were her words continually echoing throughout Rarity's mind?

"Why so brutal?"

"Beg pardon?"

"I mean, did you have to bury her alive? Couldn't you have just done it quickly and painlessly?"

"Well...I suppose that I could have."

"But you didn't want to. You wanted to make her suffer."

"I suppose I did."

"You wanted to have power over her, to show that you were the one in control now."

"Uh...I suppose if you want to think of it that way then-"

"So what I said before is true, you do it just to feel powerful,"

Rarity violently shook her head. S...she was merely being foolish and that was the end of it!

Rarity stared at her workroom, not even knowing what to do with herself right now.

Krissy had been dead for about six hours now and Rarity didn't know what to do with herself. She felt that she needed to do SOMETHING or else she would go absolutely insane.

Thankfully at that moment there came a knock on the door. Rarity eagerly bolted towards the door and opened it to see Applejack looking uncomfortable.

"Oh, hello Applejack," said Rarity confusedly. "How are you today?"

"Hello Rarity," said Applejack grimly. Her tone made Rarity very nervous.

"Uh...what can I do for you?" she asked.

"We're goin' to go see Twilight," said Applejack simply. Rarity raised her eyebrow at Applejack.

"Why darling, why are we doing that?"

"Because she still won't talk to ya and I'm gettin' sick and tired of it!" said Applejack angrily. Rarity was taken aback by her outburst.

"Well," said Rarity, hoping to calm Applejack down. "I think that Twilight needs to recover from this in her own time and I don't think that-"

"Don't gimme that!" said Applejack. "She's had plenty of time to recover from hearin' the details of somethin' that happened years ago! It's time the two of ya talked about this!"

"Applejack I really don't think that's a good-"

"Rarity, I really don't want to force you to go over to her house," said Applejack sternly. "But I will."

"Applejack, what's gotten into you!?" asked Rarity. "I don't expect this kind of behavior from you!"

"I'm sorry if I'm being forceful Rarity," said Applejack. "But I am done with seein' you and Twilight interact like this. You are great friends and she's throwin' it away by not talkin' to you about this!"

"Applejack-"

"I'm not askin' ya, I'm tellin' ya," said Applejack sternly. "If this goes on any longer then our entire group will be affected and if our group splits up, then so do the Elements of Harmony! I won't risk either." Rarity bit her lip. A confrontation with Twilight on Applejack's terms was the very last thing that she wanted right now but there was no way that she was going to get out of it right now.

"Very well," said Rarity in a defeated tone. "Lead the way."

As the two walked towards Twilight's house, Applejack started up a preliminary conversation.

"Rarity, do you know why she's actin' like this? I mean, sure what you told her was doubtlessly disturbin' but...why would she avoid you for weeks on end like this for self-defense kills that got out of hand?"

"I...I don't know," she said. She really hated lying to the Element of Honesty, but the truth wouldn't be the best idea at this point.

"Don't gimme that either," said Applejack. "What could you have said that disturbed her so much? I mean, were ya sadistic about it?"

"I was with one of them," said Rarity simply. Applejack seemed taken aback for a brief moment.

"Y...you were?" she said. "Like...how sadistic?"

"I buried her alive," said Rarity. Applejack gasped.

"Why would you do that!?" asked Applejack. "What in Equestria possessed you!?"

"Fear," she said sadly. "I was afraid of what would happen if I didn't kill all of them."

"So you buried one alive!?" asked Applejack, clear disgust in her voice. Rarity stopped in her tracks.

"Maybe this isn't a good idea," she said. "Clearly you understand Twilight's side of things a bit more now." Applejack resolutely shook her head.

"I suppose I do," she said. "But that still doesn't mean that I aint gonna do my darndest to get this resolved!"

"Applejack," said Rarity sternly. "I'll go do this for you, but you have to promise me one thing!" Applejack nodded glumly. "You will undoubtedly hear parts of the story that you have not heard before, maybe even some...extended ramifications of what happened that day. I want you to Pinkie Promise me that you will not leave until this is resolved for good!"

Applejack silently nodded and the two continued their journey towards Twilight's house.

"There's somethin' big you held back, isn't there?" said Applejack. Rarity nodded.

"But Applejack, I want you to know that it is all in the past!" said Rarity desperately. "I don't want it to change our friendship!"

"I can't promise that," said Applejack as the library came into view.

"But Applejack-"

"Rarity, like it or not when secrets of this magnitude get let out between friends, their friendship is forever changed. They can still remain best friends, like sisters even, but the friendship will change somehow. Whatever you held back will inevitably change our friendship in some way."

"I'm afraid that it will end it," said Rarity sadly.

"If it is truly in the past, and you are truly sorry for it and wish that you could take it back, then I doubt that it will happen," said Applejack.

"You won't hate me for holding it back?" asked Rarity.

"Rarity, when are ya gonna learn that I won't hate ya no matter what ya did?" asked Applejack frustratedly. "Don't ya trust me?"

"It's not that I don't trust you," said Rarity as they stopped at Twilight's front door. "It's just that you place too much trust in me."

Applejack turned her head away from Rarity at hearing this and she knocked on Twilight's door.

"Coming!" said a happy voice from inside that was undoubtedly that of Twilight. The two waited in an uncomfortable silence for a moment before Twilight opened the door with a gigantic grin on her face.

A gigantic grin that immediately fell when she saw Rarity.

Twilight's eyes widened and the door was engulfed in a magical glow as she attempted to shut the door but Applejack would have none of it and she stopped the door with her hoof.

"Applejack," said Twilight. "What's going on here? Why is she here?"

"She's here because the three of us are gonna talk about what's botherin' you Twilight!" said Applejack angrily. 'If you try to shut the door in our face again I'll just buck it down!"

Twilight took a nervous step back. She had rarely seen Applejack so irate.

"Uh...come in then I guess," she said with a look that clearly indicated that she would rather be anywhere but here.

"Thank you," said Applejack and the two ponies walked into the house and stood in the middle of the room, each wondering who was going to speak up first. When Applejack realized that it would have to be her, she gave a frustrated sigh.

"Before we begin," she said. "I think you should know that Rarity told me her big secret."

Twilight's eyes widened, to the point where Rarity was beginning to wonder if they wouldn't encompass her whole face, and her jaw dropped to the floor as she let out a huge gasp.

"Sh...she told you that-"

"That I killed three foals when I was just a filly," said Rarity quickly, trying to prevent Twilight from spilling the real secret. Twilight looked confusedly at Rarity.

"You didn't tell her that-"

"I buried one of them alive? I actually did," said Rarity nervously. Oh Celestia, Twilight was going to say it at any moment.

"But what about-"

"No, I haven't told her that Sweetie Belle knows too," said Rarity a little loudly. Now it was Applejack's turn to widen her eyes.

"Sweetie Belle knows? How!?" asked Applejack in shock. Rarity began nervously laughing. She hated lying to the Element of Honesty but it was worth their friendship. However, she had difficulty coming up with a lie for that specific question.

"I...uh...well she found out because...It's a long story," said Rarity. True to form, Applejack wasn't buying it and she narrowed her eyes at Rarity.

"Suppose you tell it," said Applejack sternly. "I think we're gonna be here a while." They wouldn't be if Rarity had anything to say about it but as fate would have it, she most certainly did not have anything to say about it. Applejack looked at Rarity sternly while Twilight still seemed to be trying to figure out just what was going on.

"Please," whispered Rarity pathetically. "Don't make me tell it." The pain in her voice startled Applejack for a brief moment. "I think that it is a moment that is just between me and Sweetie Belle."

"Does Twilight know how she found out?" asked Applejack.

"Yes I do," said Twilight before Rarity could answer. "And...I think that it is an event that should just be between the two of them." Rarity breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you Twilight," said Rarity. Applejack frowned.

"Okay, we got that outta the way," she said. "But that wasn't even the real reason we were here in the first place. We're here to talk to you about why you've been avoidin' Rarity on account of what she told you about an even that happened over ten years ago!"

Twilight stayed silent for a moment, looking sadly at Rarity.

"You didn't tell her the other part, did you?" she asked quietly. Rarity's stomach tied itself into a million knots as she looked at Twilight with a look of pure horror on her face.

"What 'other part'?" asked Applejack, looking wildly between Rarity and Twilight. Rarity wanted to just run as fast as she could out of Twilight's house. It seemed to her that she would have to if she didn't want her secret spilled to Applejack.

"She can't be a good moderator for our problem if she doesn't really know what's going on," said Twilight who was clearly holding back tears.

"But she'll hate me forever," said Rarity.

"Rarity, I won't-"

"YES YOU WILL!" screeched Rarity, causing Twilight and Applejack to take a step back. "YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT THE SECRET IS, I DO AND I KNOW THAT IT IS UNFORGIVABLE!"

Now Applejack was the one who had to hold back tears while Twilight was shedding hers.

"D...did you kill my parents?" she asked. Rarity gave a frustrated sigh.

"I Pinkie Promise that I had nothing to do with the deaths of your parents!" said Rarity. "Stop asking that!"

"Well then what can it be?" she asked, anger rising in her own voice once more. "How can I trust you if you don't trust me?"

"Don't you have secrets Applejack?" asked Rarity. "Don't you have dark memories from your past that you would be mortified if any of us knew!?"

"No I don't!" said Applejack. "I have done my share of terrible stuff, everypony has, but I don't keep any secrets from my friends because I trust them!" Rarity gave a mocking laugh and she was surprised to feel tears beginning to creep up as well.

"Oh don't be ridiculous Applejack," said Rarity. "You have secrets just like the rest of us! Everypony has secrets!"

"Fine," snapped Applejack, "I have secrets just like the rest of us! But why can't you tell me yours? How can I help you if you keep actin' like you've told me when really Twilight knows somethin' I don't? How can I help you two if you won't trust me!?"

For the first time, Rarity saw a look of utter helplessness in Applejack's eyes and she calmed down slightly. Applejack took a deep breath and started again.

"I just...I can't stand to see my friends tearin' themselves apart like this. I want to help you through this so you can repair some of the obvious damage that this secret, whatever it is, did to your friendship!"

"Who asked for your help?" she said coldly. Rarity regretted her words immediately and tears began falling from her eyes when she saw the devastated look on Applejack's face. "Oh no," she said in quiet horror. "Applejack I didn't-"

"Oh yeah?" said Applejack as she tried to sound stern through the the devastating emotional pain she felt. "Well then just what did-"

"She used to be a serial killer," said Twilight quietly. Rarity gave a small gasp of shock and Applejack just stared at Rarity with a look of horror on her face.

"What did you say?" she asked quietly.

Twilight didn't respond to the question. Rarity and Applejack looked over at her to see her curled up in a ball on the floor, sobbing loudly as if she was a mere filly that was witnessing a hateful argument between her parents. Rarity slowly walked over to her and gently put a comforting hoof on her shoulder, causing Twilight to violently flinch. Rarity lifted the hoof up and the two friends merely stared in silence as Twilight sobbed on the floor, wishing the whole affair would just go away forever. Applejack looked back at Rarity.

"Is that true?" she asked. "Please tell me it's not true."

"It's true," said Rarity grimly. Applejack put a hoof to her mouth.

"Oh Celestia," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

"And now our friendship is over," said Rarity blankly.

"Y...you want it to be over!?" asked Applejack who sounded even more hurt than ever.

"Of course I don't darling!" said Rarity. "But that doesn't change the fact that you will never look at me the same way, that you can never trust me ever again, that you will have Twilight's attitude towards me, that eventually our friendship will break apart and that will be the end of that."

Applejack stayed silent for a moment before responding.

"Would you...would you take it all back if you could?" she asked.

"Yes, yes I would," said Rarity. "I would take back every single minute of it if I could. I mean, just look where I ended up."

"Why did you even start in the first place!?" asked Applejack. Rarity sighed and dove into her story.

She told Applejack about that fateful day in the woods and how the part where she had to kill in self-defense was absolutely true. She told her about how she had realized that she would never want to hurt the five of them once they connected with the Elements, she told her that she only killed ponies that hurt the five of them in some way, she told her every single relevant detail that she could up to the point about the cleansing of the Elements not actually working.

When she finished, Applejack was silent and Twilight had stopped crying for the most part. Rarity looked at the two of them and she felt that somepony was taking a knife and cutting away every happy thought that she had ever had, every moment of high self-esteem, every positive emotion period.

"Even though the Elements cleansed me, I still live with tremendous guilt every day. I have frequent nightmares about it and I wish that I could take it all back Applejack, I wish that I could." Applejack nodded and cleared her throat.

"Rarity, I don't hate you and I still want to be one of your best friends. I won't sugar coat it, what you did was pure evil," said Applejack. "However, I know that the Elements of Harmony brought us together for a reason and if you truly do feel guilt for what you have done then...then I'm willing to try to let it go as best as I can."

"Really?" asked a surprised Rarity.

"Having said that," continued Applejack. "It's gonna take time Rarity. It's gonna take me a whole lotta time to figure all of this out. I...I don't know how I'll get the strength, but I Pinkie Promise you that I will do my darndest to make sure our friendship stays strong."

"Why?" whispered Rarity.

"Because deep down inside, I know that the Rarity that I know and love is the real you. I know that the part of you that has formed the basis of our friendship is not a lie. You had an evil side to you, I can't deny that, but since the evil side seems to be gone...then I'm willin' to try to focus on just the good again."

"So am I," said Twilight quietly. Rarity stared at Twilight in shock.

"Are you sure?" she asked. To the surprise of both of them, Twilight managed a tiny smile.

"If we can give an evil demigod who tried to bring eternal darkness to the world a second chance, then I want to try to give a pony who did something terrible out of helplessness and fear and it consumed her another chance."

"But I don't deserve one!" said Rarity. Twilight nodded.

"Of course you don't," she said which caused Applejack to nod in agreement. "But I suppose it's a good thing that we are the ones who decide if you get a second chance or not."

"It's still gonna be hard Rarity," said Applejack. "It'll be hard for the both of us to look past what you've done...but I want to give it a shot."

"But don't you feel...betrayed or something? Don't you feel hurt that I didn't trust you with this?"

"Of course I do!" said Applejack. "But that's one of the biggest jobs of a friend: forgiveness."

Rarity immediately burst into tears, causing Twilight and Applejack to move close to her to wrap their forelegs around her in a tight hug.

"It'll be okay sugar cube," said Applejack soothingly. "We'll try our best to get through this."

"We're here for you Rarity," said Twilight. "We want to help you."

Rarity continued crying until there were no more tears to shed.

_Author's note: I would just like to start out by thanking all of my regular readers for this story. I couldn't have written a story like this without your support (and constructive criticism). I know that this story is getting pretty long (If you put it on a Word document, it would be longer than the first few Harry Potter books) and I just want you all to know that this story is in its end chapters. I doubt that I'll do more than five more at most. I would also like to assure you that I do know how it is going to end and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. I know for a fact that you won't see it as a cop-out ending._

_One final note before I finish this chapter: I would like to officially announce that a sequel is being planned for this story. I know without a doubt that once this story ends there will be more to tell. I think you're gonna like it if you've liked this one._

_Thanks again for your continued support._


	24. Assertiveness, Cherries, and Tomatoes

"Thank you ever so much for that delightful lunch, Pinkie Pie," said Rarity as her and her bouncy pink friends walked through the Ponyville market. "It has been far too long since the two of us got together for lunch."

"No problem at all, Rarity!" said Pinkie Pie happily. "I love spending time with my bestest friends!" Rarity gave Pinkie a big smile which Pinkie promptly returned and the two of them began looking around to see if here was anything that they needed at the market.

"Let's see now," said Rarity to herself. "I need carrots, celery, apples, milk-"

"Fluttershy," said Pinkie

"Yes, Fluttershy," said Rarity absentmindedly. "Fluttershy, eggs, cheese-"

"No silly," said Pinkie with a giggle. "Fluttershy is over at the asparagus stand!" Rarity looked to where Pinkie was pointing and sure enough, Fluttershy was standing by the asparagus stand next to a pair of snobby ponies who were giving her snide remarks.

"Would you mind moving back? You're in my personal space," said the first one in a voice that Rarity found immensely grating on her ears.

"But..." said Fluttershy meekly

"Seriously, do you need your asparagus so badly? Get a life!" said the other one. Somehow her voice was even more annoying. Fluttershy lowered her head and slunk backwards, not even noticing Pinkie and Rarity.

"Oh, okay, there's no rush," she said quietly. Rarity couldn't stand to see them treat Fluttershy like that!"

"Fluttershy!" she said, causing Fluttershy to stop backing up. "You mustn't let them treat you that way!"

"Oh, it's...it's really no big deal," said Fluttershy.

"It's bigger than big, it's double-big!" said Pinkie irritatedly. "You are a pony with a problem!"

"What problem?" asked Fluttershy meekly. Pinkie and Rarity traded calculating looks and nods, prompting Pinkie Pie to move Fluttershy to face the asparagus stand. Before Fluttershy could react, Pinkie zipped past her so fast that she spun around and fell down to the ground in a dazed heap.

"Oh, go ahead Pinkie Pie, you first," said Fluttershy.

"Right there!" said Pinkie Pie as she tapped Fluttershy's forehead. "That's the problem!"

"You've got to stop being such a doormat!" said Rarity. Fluttershy's eyes widened in shock.

"A doormat?"

"A pushover, darling," said Rarity. "You've got to stand up for yourself! Promise us!"

"Okay," said Fluttershy uncertainly. "I promise." Rarity rolled her eyes. Only Fluttershy could prove how much of a pushover she was by promising to not be a pushover. "Oh good!" said Fluttershy, noticing that there was still one asparagus bunch. However, before she could buy it herself, a geeky Earth Pony stallion walked by and quickly bought the last bunch. Fluttershy looked at the ground dejectedly. "Oh that's okay, I don't mind." Rarity rolled her eyes.

"Watch and learn," she said. She looked over at her target. This one would be easy. "Hold it right there, Mr. Small and Handsome!" she said as she walked up to the stallion.

"Who, me?" asked the stallion. Oh Celestia, he was even more hideous this close up. She tried her best to sound seductive.

"Well of course, you!" she said. "Nopony ever called you handsome before?"

"Uh...that'd be a big no," said the stallion. Gracious it wasn't hard to see why. He was an abomination of nature.

"Oh! well they should!" said Rarity. "How about flexing some of your muscles for me?" She lifted up his left foreleg to prompt him which caused his bow-tie to begin spinning around rapidly. stupid metaphors she thought to herself.

The stallion gave her an annoying giggle and did his best to flex his muscles on his left foreleg. The strain that even this small action had on his muscles was immediately apparent and Rarity had to squint to see any change at all. However, years of her secret life meant that she was marvelous at faking emotions so she gave an impressed gasp despite the fact that part of her wanted to vomit at this pitiful display.

"Oh my heavens!" she said in fake excitement. "Do you think that a strong, handsome stallion such as yourself could give my friend the last asparagus?" she said as she used her magic to give him one bit and take the asparagus out of his saddlebag. He began babbling like the moron he was and Rarity secretly shot him a dirty look before turning her attention back to Fluttershy.

"See? That's not so hard is it?" she said as she put the asparagus in Fluttershy's saddlebag.

"Um, I guess not," she said.

"Alright then," said Rarity, taking Fluttershy's list out of her saddlebag. "What else is on your list?"

"Let's see. I also need tomatoes," said Fluttershy.

"Then to the tomato stand we go!" said Pinkie.

The three friends walked over to the tomato stand and all three were glad to see that there were plenty of tomatoes left. They would not have the same problem that they had just had.

Fluttershy walked over to the stand and happily scooped three tomatoes into her bag before placing a bit on the counter. Rarity and Fluttershy both were glad to see that this particular tomato vendor was far more reasonable and didn't go out of her way to extort Fluttershy. Rarity was glad that she didn't have to kill her because without Scarlet Tomato around, Ponyville was struck with a tomato shortage for a few weeks. This new tomato vendor came about at just the right time to re-supply Ponyville with tomatoes.

Fluttershy began walking away when the tomato vendor cleared her throat.

"That'll be two bits, not one," she said sternly.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me," said Rarity under her breath. What in Equestria was it with these tomato vendors!? After a brief exchange, Fluttershy placed another bit on the counter before trying to walk away. Pinkie Pie groaned and all of a sudden, she popped up in front of the tomato stand.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked irritatedly.

"Minding my own business, maybe you should try it!" retorted the tomato vendor.

"Two bits for tomatoes is outrageous!" said Pinkie as she pulled the second bit away. "One bit is the right price"!

"I say its two bits!" said the vendor, pulling the bit back over to her.

Rarity had seen Pinkie Pie pull some outrageous stunts before, but this was a new one. She was arguing back and forth with the tomato vendor, each pulling the bit towards them when Pinkie did something outrageous: (as Pinkie Pies such as Pinkie are apt to do) she started arguing for two bits. However, the tomato vendor actually started arguing for one bit and before the vendor knew what had happened, Pinkie agreed that Fluttershy should only pay one bit.

only Pinkie Pie, thought Rarity. only Pinkie Pie

Pinkie rejoined the group and Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie all walked away, giggling at Pinkie's successful antics.

"See, asserting yourself can be fun!" said Pinkie.

"I guess you're right," said Fluttershy.

"So Fluttershy, do you feel like giving it a try?" asked Rarity.

"Um, okay," said Fluttershy. Rarity was about to remark that she was being a doormat by taking the path of least resistance by agreeing to what they were saying right away, but Fluttershy's eye caught the cherry stand at that moment and she zoomed over. To Rarity's surprise, tomato vendors weren't the only ponies who could be extortionists. He was charging ten bits for one cherry!

Fluttershy looked at Pinkie and Rarity helplessly and they both egged her on, desperately hoping that she had picked up on something that would help her. Fluttershy turned back to the cherry vendor.

"Oh, hey, Mr. Handsome, I know you want to do the right thing because you're handsome and...and strong and big, handsome, strong guys are always nice to everypony, right?" Rarity looked on nervously. It wasn't the worst first effort but unsurprisingly it didn't faze the cherry vendor.

"Ten bits for the cherry!" he said. Fluttershy looked back and Pinkie egged her on, hoping that she would get it this time. Fluttershy turned back to the vendor resolutely.

"Ten bits for one cherry is outrageous!" she said sternly. A small hope ignited inside Rarity. It was a good start to be sure. "I insist on paying you...eleven bits!" Rarity's eyes widened as the small hope was dragged down into a basement of its own and violently murdered. The cherry vendor looked at Fluttershy confusedly.

"Eleven bits?"

"Um...I mean...nine bits!" Rarity and Pinkie traded a confused look, hoping that Fluttershy would recover.

"Now wait a minute," said the vendor, trying to figure out Fluttershy's train of thought.

"Okay, twelve bits, but that's my final offer!" Rarity felt like she couldn't watch but she couldn't look away from the horror that was unfolding before her. Pinkie had literally dug a hole in the ground and shoved her head into it. Rarity put what she hoped was a comforting hoof on her head but it might have been more to steady herself.

"I think you're confused," said the vendor, who was clearly confused himself.

"Twelve bits, take it or leave it!" said Fluttershy.

"Okay, okay, I'll take it."

Fluttershy reached into her bag to pull out the money but Rarity snapped out of her stupor just in time to pull Fluttershy and her money away from the stand.

"Don't give him your money!" said Pinkie angrily. "One cherry is not worth twelve bits!"

"But...I was only doing what you did!" said Fluttershy. Rarity let Fluttershy go.

"It was a valiant effort, but you should refuse to give him your business and just walk away."

"But I can't let Angel starve!" said Fluttershy. "He won't eat it unless I make it just right!" Ah, so that's what this was about: feeding that stupid abusive bunny of hers. Good gracious, she was even more of a pushover today than Rarity thought. "I need that cherry no matter what it costs!"

Before Rarity and Pinkie could react, Fluttershy began flying over to the cherry stand where the vendor was giving her a smug smile.

"In that case, twenty bits!" he said. Fluttershy screeched to a halt.

"Twenty! But...I don't have that much," said Fluttershy.

"Then why are you wasting my time?" said the vendor. Rarity gave a small growl of anger and walked over to the stand, ready to give him a piece of her mind but before she could, a mare walked past the stand.

"I'll give ya two bits for that cherry," she said as she place two bits on the counter and took the cherry.

"Sold!" said the vendor before turning his attention back to Fluttershy. "Eh, tough break kid. Next time don't be such a doormat."

Fluttershy's face fell as she turned around and walked away, looking absolutely heartbroken. Rarity and Pinkie Pie looked at each other helplessly before Rarity noticed the cherry vendor cleaning up for the day. She gave an angry look in his direction and marched on over to him. Pinkie Pie followed behind closely.

"Just who do you think you are?" she asked angrily. The vendor looked up confusedly but took a small step back when he saw Rarity and Pinkie Pie in front of his stand.

"Uh...can I help you?" he asked.

"You can help me by giving me a cherry to give to my friend!" said Rarity angrily.

"Well uh...I don't really have any cherries right now but if you..."

"How in Equestria could you do that to her!?" asked Rarity who was growing more and more livid by merely being in the presence of this Pegasus.

"Well lady I have a business to..."

"Extortion is illegal!" said Pinkie Pie. "What you did was super-duper wrong!"

"Well you see..."

"I don't want to hear it," said Rarity, venom dripping from every word. "What you just did to her was unjustifiable! Did you know that because she didn't get that cherry, she's going to get hit tonight?"

"H...hit?" asked the vendor who was clearly losing his resolve.

"Yes! Her bunny is going to hit her if she doesn't do everything that she says and now she has to go home knowing that she's going to more or less be in a world of trouble and IT IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" screeched Rarity. The vendor looked helplessly at Pinkie Pie, hoping maybe that she would be less mad or more reasonable than Rarity. No such luck as Pinkie seemed just as mad with him as Rarity was.

"You should be ashamed of yourself, picking on poor Fluttershy like that!" said Pinkie Pie.

"Whatever made you think that you could do that!?" asked Rarity. The vendor almost scared now.

"I...I..."

"WELL!?" said Rarity and Pinkie Pie together.

"I...well you see I..." the vendor looked around wildly. "We're closed!" he said before he bolted away. Rarity and Pinkie Pie watched him go.

"That was super mean of him!" said Pinkie.

"Positively dreadful behavior," said Rarity with a nod.

"I don't think I'm wanna buy cherries from a meanie like him," said Pinkie.

"I know he certainly won't be getting any of my business ever again!" said Rarity. In fact, he won't ever sell another cherry as long as he lives. I think I'll have a little fun with him and the tomato vendor tonight.

"Are you okay Rarity?" asked Pinkie. Rarity snapped out of her thoughts and nodded.

"Oh, yes, I'm fine. I guess I was just lost in thought for a moment there."

"Well that's silly!" said Pinkie. It's your mind, how can you get lost in there?"

"No Pinkie I...uh...never mind," said Rarity. Pinkie seemed to have moved on.

"Hey, do you want to help me out today at Sugar Cube Corner? The Cakes are taking a vacation this week and my Pinkie Sense is telling me that this is going to be a really busy day!"

"Well of course I'll help you darling," said Rarity. "I just finished a large order of dresses and I need something to do right now."

"Well then let's go!" said Pinkie happily.

The two of them reached Sugar Cube Corner after a few minutes and Pinkie opened the door to the shop and the two walked in to get ready for the lunch rush.

Pinkie examined a leaflet on the ground interestedly.

"The Incredible Iron Will turns doormats into dynamos," she said as she scanned the leaflet. Rarity walked over and looked at it interestedly. "Assertiveness seminar today, hedge maze center."

"Well, Fluttershy could certainly use something like that, couldn't she?" said Rarity.

"I hope she goes actually," said Pinkie Pie. "Maybe a professional could really help her!"

"It is possible," said Rarity. Pinkie tossed the flyer in the trash and walked behind the counter.

"Okay, I'll make the goodies for right now and you can go behind the counter and take orders!" said Pinkie Pie.

"Of course," said Rarity as she took her spot behind the counter.

The next few hours were fairly hectic as all of Ponyville seemed to be at Sugar Cube Corner for their lunch breaks. Rarity frantically moved around trying to get orders filled and she sometimes even found herself in the kitchen when Pinkie needed some extra help bringing larger batches of sweets out of the oven. On occasion the two would even trade off as Rarity's magic meant that she was faster in things like getting supplies and organizing the sweets.

After a few hours, Rarity was in the basement getting a large amount of flour when she heard a voice that was distinctly Fluttershy's but something was...different. She looked in the direction of her voice to see Fluttershy looking angrily at a pony that seemingly had just cut in front of her in line.

"Now go to the back of the line where you belong!" said Fluttershy. Rarity blinked and rubbed her eyes to make sure that this wasn't an illusion, that she wasn't just seeing things but she didn't seem to be. To her surprise, not only did the mare that had cut in front of Fluttershy move behind her, but every single pony in the line did so as well. Fluttershy gave a smile and moved up to the counter.

"Heeey, look at you!" said an impressed Pinkie Pie. Rarity walked up next to Pinkie behind the counter.

"Your attitude is so feisty! It's fabulous!" said Rarity.

"Looks like that monster's workshop really paid off!" said Pinkie. Rarity briefly wondered just how Pinkie knew that Fluttershy was at the workshop but she settled on 'it's Pinkie Pie'.

"Iron Will's not a monster, he's a Minotaur," corrected Fluttershy. "And a true inspiration! His techniques really work!"

"Well they've certainly make a difference in how you carry yourself," said Rarity. "You truly are a whole new Fluttershy!"

"Yes, I am," said Fluttershy. "And New Fluttershy feels pretty stoked about New Fluttershy."

'Well Old Pinkie Pie feels really proud of new Fluttershy," said Pinkie. "Proud as pink punch!" Pinkie zipped under the counter and returned with a bowl of pink punch which she placed on the counter. "Want some?" she asked before breaking out into hysterical giggles.

Rarity was about to join in the laughter, but Fluttershy seemed less than amused.

"You laugh at me, I wrath at you!" she said before she shoved the bowl onto Pinkie's head, soaking the pink pony from head to hooves. Rarity stared at Fluttershy with her mouth open in shock. Fluttershy turned around and flew away.

"Bye girls!" she said happily.

"Did she just...pour punch on your head?" asked a bemused Rarity. Pinkie took the bowl off of her head and placed it on the counter.

"Uh...yeah I think she did," said Pinkie.

"Do you think something's wrong?" asked Rarity. "Why would she do something like that?"

"I don't know," said Pinkie Pie, shaking her head. "Maybe we'd better go out and talk to her about it."

"I think you're right," said Rarity and the two trotted out of the shop.

What they saw only made them more shocked.

Fluttershy had called for a taxi and within seconds one stopped for her. However, a rather rude stallion immediately jumped into the taxi, stealing it from Fluttershy. Fluttershy's face darkened.

"Oh no you don't!" she said. "You cut in line, I'll take what's mine!"

At that moment, Fluttershy literally tackled the stallion and began beating him up before she shoved him out of the taxi.

"Nopony pushes New Fluttershy around. NOPONY!" screeched Fluttershy. The taxi driver immediately ran off, taking an angry Fluttershy with him.

"Old Pinkie Pie is not so sure that New Fluttershy is such a good idea after all," said Pinkie Pie nervously.

"Old Rarity agrees," said Rarity.

"What are we gonna do?" asked Pinkie Pie. "Will she just get even angrier if we confront her about this?"

"I don't know darling," said Rarity. "But in all honesty I don't see any other options. We can't just let her keep acting like she is!" Pinkie looked uncertainly at the retreating taxi.

"I dunno," she said. "But I really care about Fluttershy and I want to see her get through this!"

'Then we are agreed," said Rarity. "We go bite the bullet and talk to Fluttershy about her behavior."

"Okay...let's go," said Pinkie with a nod.

Rarity and Pinkie Pie walked over the hill towards Fluttershy's house to see that her attitude had gotten far worse. She was talking to somepony that seemed to be a tourist of some sort. They were both looking at a postcard that had been dropped in a puddle. Based on Fluttershy's reaction, she seemed to blame the tourist.

"You make me lose, I blow my fuse!" she said angrily. She then grabbed the tourist's camera in her mouth and used it to swing the tourist around in the air and throw him as far as she could.

Rarity and Pinkie Pie looked at each other uneasily.

"Fluttershy," said Rarity. "What are you doing? That's no way to behave!"

"Didn't you see how he treated New Fluttershy?" asked Fluttershy, turning to the duo. "And he thought New Fluttershy was a pushover!"

"No sweetie, he didn't," said Rarity, doing her best to calm Fluttershy down. "We saw the whole thing. We think you've taken your assertiveness training a little too far."

Whatever mood rarity had hoped to put Fluttershy in with this, she failed completely as Fluttershy seemed more irate than ever.

"What!? You just want New Fluttershy to be a doormat like Old Fluttershy!" she said angrily. "Well Old Fluttershy is GONE"

"New Fluttershy? Old Fluttershy?" said Pinkie confusedly.

"What happened to Nice Fluttershy?" asked Rarity, hoping to appeal to to whatever decent side was left. "We want that Fluttershy back!" No dice as Fluttershy seemed even angrier.

"No! You want Wimp Fluttershy," she said as she angrily circled them. "You want Pushover Fluttershy, you want Do-Anything-To-Her-And-She-Won't-Complain-Fluttershy!"

"Too many Fluttershys to keep track of!" said Pinkie. "Make it stop!" Fluttershy tapped Pinkie's head and gave her a malicious grin.

"Things getting to complicated for your simple little brain, Pinkie Pie?" said Fluttershy as she pushed Pinkie Pie back into Rarity's forelegs. Rarity was really beginning to lose her patience with Fluttershy.

"Now stop right there!" she said. "Let's not let things dissolve into petty insults!" Fluttershy turned her nasty attention towards Rarity now.

"Why not? I thought petty was what you were all about, Rarity! With your petty concerns about fashion!"

Oh she had done it now. Rarity now knew what it was like to be betrayed by a good friend. How could Fluttershy say that to her!? Pinkie jumped up to her defense.

"Hey, leave her alone!" said Pinkie. "Fashion is her passion!" Fluttershy still wasn't calming down.

"And what are you passionate about?" said Fluttershy. "Birthday cake? Party hats?" Rarity's eyes filled with tears. Would she have to...? But Fluttershy wasn't done. "I can't believe that the two most frivolous ponies in Ponyville are trying to tell New Fluttershy how to live her life, when they are throwing their lives away on pointless pursuits that nopony else gives a flying feather about!"

It was all Rarity and Pinkie could do to hold back the tears. Rarity's mind was racing as she heard the nasty things that Fluttershy was saying and she felt pain and betrayal in her very soul. Would she have to go into Rarity's basement? She didn't want that but how could she let this Fluttershy continue to treat all of Ponyville like this!?

"It looks like Nasty Fluttershy is here to stay!" said Pinkie.

"I cannot believe what that monster Iron Will has done to you!" said Rarity. The two decided that they couldn't stand to be around Nasty Fluttershy anymore and they both turned around and ran away, crying their eyes out. Rarity heard Fluttershy yell something, but Rarity tuned it out. She didn't want to hear anything that Fluttershy had to say to her ever again!

Pinkie and Rarity both ran until they found themselves back at Sugar Cube Corner. Pinkie led Rarity up to her room and once they were inside, their crying began in earnest once more. They hugged each other and sobbed into each other's shoulders.

"Rarity, why would she say things like that?" asked Pinkie Pie helplessly.

"I...I don't know," said Rarity. "She just...I don't even know."

"What are we gonna do?" asked Pinkie as she pulled out of the hug and wiped her eyes. "That's not Fluttershy in there, how can we find the real Fluttershy?" Rarity sighed and wiped her eyes too.

"I don't know," she said. "I...I think I just want to go home right now. I...need to organize my thoughts." Pinkie Pie nodded.

"I'll see you later then," she said sadly.

Rarity slowly made the trek back to her house, dejection and betrayal weighing her down every step of the way. She opened the door to her house and immediately walked down to her basement. She walked over to her workbench and popped it open.

could I really kill Fluttershy? she asked herself. She knew that she was being absolutely foolish and that this would all get resolved somehow...but what if it didn't? That Fluttershy was not a Fluttershy that Rarity wanted to be around. Heck, that Fluttershy was a Fluttershy that she didn't want around period. Any other pony would be in her basement before the day ended. Fluttershy. How in Equestria could she kill Fluttershy?

Fluttershy weakly tried to struggle out of the straps holding her down as Rarity removed her second wing with her meat cleaver.

"Rarity, why!?" said Fluttershy. Rarity's eyes filled with tears as she ripped the wing off, crying as she did.

"I'm going to ask myself that question for the rest of my life, Fluttershy," said Rarity sadly. "I don't know why you felt the need to act that way around us. We were only trying to help you!"

"I just made a mistake!" said Fluttershy. "I was trying to me more assertive, like you said!"

"I didn't tell you to be a jerk!" said Rarity angrily. "I didn't tell you to go around being nasty to everypony!"

Fluttershy began crying in earnest now as Rarity put her meat cleaver down.

"I didn't want to be afraid anymore," said Fluttershy. "I didn't want to feel that I wasn't in control, that my life was dictated by how other ponies decided to treat me. I'm sorry it got out of hand Rarity, I'm sorry!"

Rarity had to turn her head away to regain control of her emotions for a moment.

"So am I," said Rarity as she picked up her butcher knife. "So am I"

Rarity snapped out of her thoughts and immediately slammed her workbench closed. She bolted back upstairs and retreated into her room where she threw herself on her bead and began sobbing. How in Equestria could those thoughts even begin to cross her mind!? What kind of sick maniac was she that she would think about killing Fluttershy like that after one bad conversation!? She wasn't fit to live, she wasn't fit to have Fluttershy call her a friend, she wasn't fit to try to help Fluttershy through this, and she should just stay in her room until this got resolved.

However, there came a knock on the door and Rarity got up to go answer.

To her surprise, Pinkie Pie was on the other side of the door, looking determined.

"We have to go talk to Fluttershy," she said.

"But Pinkie, you saw how she treated us last time! Are you sure that it will work!?"

"No," she said with a shake of her head. "No I'm not. But I feel that we have to try again! We have to fight for our friendship with Fluttershy! If Discord couldn't tear us apart, I don't see how Iron Will can!"

"You're right of course," said Rarity with a sad nod. "Very well, let's go talk to Fluttershy."

The two walked in silence towards Fluttershy's cottage. In truth, Rarity didn't even know what to say to Fluttershy when they saw her next, but Pinkie was right, something needed to be done.

As they approached the cottage, Rarity and Pinkie Pie were surprised to see how...dead everything looked. There were no leaves on the trees, the sky was overcast and no animals were around. To complete the depressing ensemble, all of Fluttershy's windows and doors were boarded up. Had Fluttershy moved or something!?

Rarity cautiously approached the door and knocked, hoping that Fluttershy was in there. She cleared her throat, still trying to think of something good to say if Fluttershy was in the house.

"Fluttershy darling, are you in there?"

"It's Pinkie Pie and Rarity!" added Pinkie Pie.

"Go away!" said Fluttershy from inside the house. She sounded very depressed. "Go away before Nasty Fluttershy strikes again!" Rarity was heartbroken to see Fluttershy talk like this but at least it meant that she was switching back to the Fluttershy she loved.

"Oh sweetie, we all said things that we regret," said Rarity. Pinkie gave a confused look.

"We did?" she said loudly, prompting Rarity to shove a hoof in her mouth to stop her from saying anything foolish. Too late as Fluttershy had heard her.

"Pinkie's right. I'm the only one to blame!" she said. "But don't worry; I'm never coming out of my house again! Everypony will be a lot safer with me and my mean mouth locked away!" Rarity didn't know what to say. She wanted to say something to make Fluttershy feel better, to make her problems go away but she didn't have any eloquent speech to achieve that goal.

"Sweetie, Pinkie Pie doesn't blame you and neither do I!" she said. "You just received some bad advice from that Iron Will character."

"Yeah," said Pinkie Pie. "He's the one who made you act all super-duper nasty!" Rarity glared at her and hit her shoulder, trying to get her to exorcise some tact. Pinkie caught on and changed her track. "What I mean is, there are other ways to assert yourself besides yelling at everypony."

"You can stand up for yourself without being unpleasant about it," agreed Rarity.

"Uh...I'm not sure I can," said Fluttershy sadly. "I'm too far gone. Whenever I try to assert myself, I become a monster!"

"Oh sweetie, you're not a monster," said Rarity.

"No, said Pinkie Pie. "But he is." Rarity turned to see that Pinkie Pie was pointing towards a gigantic Minotaur who was standing on top of a grey goat. Rarity and Pinkie Pie walked up to him, each knowing that he had to be Iron Will.

Iron Will stepped off of the goat and looked just beyond Rarity and Pinkie.

"Iron Will's my name, training ponies is my game!" he said as he gave a thumbs up to nothing. Rarity and Pinkie looked to see where he was looking but they didn't see anypony there. They shrugged it off and Rarity began working to get Iron Will away from Fluttershy.

"What a darling little catchphrase," she said sweetly.

"Your friend loved Iron Will's catchphrases!" he said, putting them both in headlocks. "Word on the street is that she doesn't take no guff from nopony. So, Iron Will is here to collect Iron Will's fee!"

Pinkie looked desperately at Rarity.

"Fluttershy is in no shape to deal with that creep!" she said. Rarity took the hint and rushed up to Iron Will.

"I'm sure that a big, brave, powerful, and rich monster-I mean, minotaur- like you doesn't need that money right away. You can afford to come back later," she said.

"Are you kidding?" said Iron Will. "Fluttershy is overdue as it is." The duo reached the door and Iron Will picked Rarity up by the horn and dropped her into a bush. "Iron Will collects now!"

Rarity popped her head out of the bush and spit out a few leaves. She spotted Pinkie Pie going up to Iron Will.

"Do something!" she said desperately.

Pinkie Pie did do something. Rarity watched once more as Pinkie Pie used her confusion techniques to make Iron Will promise that he wouldn't come back until the next day to get Fluttershy's money. Seriously, how did she do that?"

However, before Iron Will could leave, Fluttershy sneezed from inside her house. Rarity's heart sank as Iron Will heard it and tossed Pinkie aside as she tried to stop Iron Will. Iron Will ripped the boards off of Fluttershy's door before quietly knocking, causing the shy Pegasus to exit her home. Iron Will began insisting that Fluttershy pay him immediately before Fluttershy said something that Rarity thought assured her imminent destruction.

"Um...no," she said. Rarity's jaw dropped and Pinkie Pie fainted. Even Iron Will's goats seemed a little unsettled. In spite of Iron Will's threats, Fluttershy actually managed to keep her cool.

"As I recall, during your workshop you promised 100% guaranteed or you pay nothing. Well, I'm not satisfied!" Iron Will looked just as shocked as Rarity felt.

"What do you mean you're not satisfied!? Everypony has always been satisfied!"

"Well I guess I'm the first then," said Fluttershy simply. "But since I'm not satisfied, I refuse to pay. It's as simple as that." Rarity had to push Pinkie's mouth closed but in all honesty, her jaw was about to hit the ground too.

Iron Will and his goats huddled up before Iron Will tried to cut a deal with Fluttershy but Fluttershy was having none of it.

"I'm sorry, but no means no!" she said.

"No means no, huh?" said Iron Will, stepping onto one of his goats. "Nopony's ever said that to me before. Huh...I gotta remember that. That's a good catchphrase for my new workshop!"

With that, Iron Will and his goats walked away, leaving Fluttershy alone for good. Pinkie and Rarity rushed over to her and pulled her into a hug.

"You were amazing Fluttershy, you totally stood up to that monster!" said Pinkie Pie happily.

"In fact you didn't change at all!" said Rarity. "You were the same old Fluttershy all we've always loved."

"The one we've missed," agreed Pinkie.

"Don't worry," said Fluttershy with a smile. "Old Fluttershy is back for good. I'm sorry I took the whole 'assertiveness' thing too far. Friends?"

"Friends!" said Pinkie Pie and Rarity together as they pulled Fluttershy into another hug, laughing as they did.

How in Equestria does one go about killing a Minotaur?

That was the big problem that Rarity found herself facing right now. In fact, she almost felt like she would be biting off more than she could chew with her next round of victims. So far she had Iron Will, his goats, the cherry vendor, and the tomato vendor. That was six victims right there.

She groaned and rubbed her head. This was going to be difficult. However, now that she thought about it, she didn't even know where Iron Will would be going!

She banged her head on the wall, hoping desperately that she could find Iron Will soon.

At that moment, a sly smile crossed her face. She may not be able to find Iron Will, but there were two other ponies that she had on her list that she knew exactly where they were. It was just a matter of getting them into her basement. Once she did, they would suffer for the way that they treated Fluttershy. Oh yes, they would suffer.

Rarity looked as the tomato vendor and the cherry vendor were both unconscious in her basement.

Overall the actual kidnappings could have gone a little better as Rarity had to inject the cherry vendor with two needles (something she found out the hard way) and she also had to wait for an hour while the family of the tomato vendor went home before she made her move and even when she did, she found that the vendor locked her door at night so she actually had to pick the lock, something that she hadn't had to do in years!

Still the two of them were here now and that was all that mattered.

She had decided to do something new this time: she would only kill one of them. Oh sure, both would die that night, but she would only kill one of them herself. See, her table had been put to the side leaving a large empty space in the middle of the room, which was where the two ponies now lay unconscious. Rarity grinned when she thought of what was in store for them.

After a few more minutes of waiting, Rarity saw that the two of them were waking up. As usual, they both woke up and gave startled yelps when they saw their surroundings but they thankfully didn't scream. Rarity cleared her throat and the two looked over at her in fear.

"Glad to see that the two of you are awake," she said with a pleasant smile.

"What's going on?" asked the tomato vendor fearfully.

"Oh I'll get to that in just a moment," she said sweetly. "First, I feel that proper introductions are in order. My name is Rarity. I own this fine building where I design dresses and moonlight as a serial killer. What are your names?"

The two looked at each other, neither answering Rarity. Was this some kind of cruel prank? Rarity groaned and facehooved.

"That wasn't a rhetorical question," she said irritatedly. "What are your names?"

"Uh, I'm Cherry Bomb," said the cherry vendor.

"I'm Sweet Tomato," said the tomato vendor.

"Excellent!" said rarity happily. "Now that introductions are out of the way, let's get down to business. Do you know why you are here?"

The two shook their heads. Rarity groaned.

"Think back to when you saw me last! What were you doing!?"

Cherry Bomb's eyes widened when he recognized Rarity.

"You...you were with that pink pony, yelling at me for-"

"For extorting my dear friend Fluttershy and overall being a jerk to her, yes that's right."

"Is that why I'm here?" he asked. Rarity rolled her eyes.

"Well duh," she said. "Can you think of any other times you pissed me off?"

"Is that why I'm here too?" asked Sweet Tomato.

"Once again, right on the dot!" said Rarity.

"Oh no, this is all a huge misunderstanding then!" said Sweet Tomato. "I wasn't extorting Fluttershy; I had legitimately raised my price! You see, my rent is due and I need the extra money to-"

"Yes that's nice darling," said Rarity uninterestedly.

"No please, you need to understand that I was only-"

"I can assure you that I've heard it all before," said Rarity. "You really don't need to keep going."

"I wasn't-"

Rarity shot her a dirty look and she instantly levitated a knife over towards her.

"If you try to give me any more excuses for your vile behavior, I will cut your throat which I know you don't want me to do!" said Rarity angrily. Sweet Tomato shut her mouth tightly and backed away slightly. "Now then," continued Rarity. "I'm only going to say this once so you had better pay attention." The two looked at her fearfully, hoping that she would let them go. "I am going to let only one of you go. The other one will die right here in this basement."

"Which one are you going to let go!?" asked Cherry Bomb nervously.

"Well, that's actually entirely up to you," she said.

"It is?" asked Sweet Tomato, who was desperately trying to keep herself from crying.

"Yes, it is," said Rarity. "You see, I'm not going to kill either one of you if you play along."

"What do you mean?" asked Cherry Bomb.

"I'm not going to kill you," she said. "One of you is going to kill the other."

The two ponies stared at Rarity in pure shock.

"Lady, you are completely out of your mind," said Cherry Bomb. Rarity rolled her eyes once more.

"Well of course I am!" she said. "But really, how much does that help you in this situation? One of you is still going to have to kill the other if one of you wants to make it out of here alive."

"And if we refuse?" said Sweet Tomato.

"I kill you both," she said. She levitated her hunting knife over to the middle of the room and held it aloft. She gave the two a large smile before she dropped it on the ground between the two of them. "So, get to it!"

The two looked at each other, then back to Rarity with determined looks.

"No," said Cherry Bomb. Rarity raised an eyebrow.

"No?" she said confusedly. "Why, whatever do you mean?"

'We're not gonna be contestants in this sick game of yours!" said Sweet Tomato.

"But don't you want to live?" asked Rarity as she cocked her head.

"Of course I do!" said Cherry Bomb. "But not everypony is like you!"

"I'd rather die than live with the knowledge that I had actually caused another innocent pony physical harm on purpose!"

"Well...uh..." Rarity didn't know how to respond to this. They were supposed to be ripping each other to pieces, not refusing to hurt each other! Her mind raced as she tried to figure out what to do.

"So, I guess you'll just have to kill us," said Sweet Tomato stubbornly.

"Or," said Cherry Bomb. "We could use numbers to our advantage."

"Beg pardon?" said Rarity. Cherry Bomb and Sweet Tomato stood up and Cherry Bomb grabbed the knife. They began slowly advancing towards Rarity with a determined look in their eye.

"Oh dear," said Rarity quietly to herself. This was definitely not going how she had planned it. She held her knife in front of her, hoping that her experience would win the day for her.

"If you just let us go right now, we promise we won't tell anypony," said Sweet Tomato. Cherry Bomb nodded in agreement. Rarity looked dumbfounded.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" she asked.

"We'll just be on our way and we can get on with our lives as if this never happened!" said Cherry Bomb. Rarity sighed and lowered her knife.

"Well," she said sadly. "If you really promise, then I suppose-" at that moment she lunged forward with her knife, driving it deep into Cherry Bomb's throat. He dropped the knife and fell to the ground clutching at the large gash in his throat. Sweet Tomato screamed and Rarity turned around and kicked her in the face as hard as she could. Sweet Tomato was flung back and she hit the wall with a sickening crunch.

Rarity turned around to see Sweet Tomato clutching her right foreleg. Rarity suspected that she had broken it when she hit the wall. Rarity gave her a smile and she pulled the knife out of Cherry Bomb's throat.

"You know darling, one of the first things you learn as a serial killer is that you really shouldn't hesitate to go straight for the kill when you feel that the situation is getting outside of your control," she said. Sweet Tomato merely began crying. "Why, you could be running out of my basement right now, free as a bird with no ill physical affects. Instead you hesitated and here you are covered in blood with a broken foreleg."

"Please," said Sweet Tomato. "Just let me go!" Rarity looked at her blankly for a few moments before she cleared her throat.

"You know that I really hate it when ponies say that to me, right?" she said. "It would be like me coming up to your stand every day for 15 years and saying 'can I buy some apricots?', you know that no matter how much you ask, it's not going to happen!"

Sweet Tomato slowly began trying to crawl towards the basement door, hoping in vain that Rarity would let her out.

"Now this has been an interesting experience darling, but I'm afraid that I have other matters to attend to so..."

With that, she grabbed her tray and began beating Sweet Tomato to death with it. She snarled as each blow landed on her skull or he foreleg that she had uselessly put up in an attempt to block the blows. Rarity kicked the second foreleg out of the way and with one final blow, she felt Sweet Tomato's head cave in, killing her.

Rarity dropped the tray and gave an angry grunt. This had all been far more rushed than she had wanted it to be. She had wanted to see the two violently kill each other and they had refused! Still, she would have ripped the winner to shreds anyway...

Rarity cleaned herself up and walked back up to the main floor. She closed the basement door behind her and slowly trudged up to her bedroom. It was time for a nap.

Once again, I would like to thank all of my loyal readers for their support of this story. I would like to take this time to ask anypony who can draw to help me out here a bit. You see, I desperately want a better picture for the cover art for this story so I have started this competition on Deviantart for the purpose of procuring one. If anypony wishes to submit an entry, feel free to do so! Thank you so much for your continued support! This story is almost over but stay tuned for the sequel story that I have planned!


	25. To Canterlot

Rarity's eyes snapped open.

She glanced at the clock on the wall to see that she had actually slept through the night and that it was 7:00 in the morning. She bolted out of bed and rushed down to the basement, hoping that the two hadn't decayed too much over the course of the night that the smell would waft up to the boutique itself. Sweetie Belle was here right now and if she smelled dead things in Rarity's basement...

To her relief, both of them hadn't decayed to that point, but she knew that they would very soon. She sighed and got to work cleaning up the remains.

Rarity walked out of the Everfree forest with a spring in her step. She always felt wonderful after a kill and today was no exception. Plus, she had four more lined up soon! That is, she had four more beings to kill when she actually found them. She grimaced when she remembered just how long it had taken to track down the Flim-Flam Brothers, but it was all worth it in the end to be sure.

She walked back into her house a few minutes later to see Sweetie Belle up and getting ready for school.

"Good morning Sweetie Belle," said Rarity happily. "How are you today?"

"Just fine Rarity!" said Sweetie Belle with a smile. "Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and I are all gonna go crusading after school today." Rarity gave a small chuckle. Of course they were going to go crusading today.

Rarity glanced at the kitchen table to see that the mail had arrived. Sweetie Belle was at the table eating her breakfast as Rarity walked over.

"Did you get the mail today?" asked Rarity. Sweetie Belle nodded.

"Yep! I also saw that you missed yesterday's mail too so I got that too," said Sweetie Belle.

"Well that was very thoughtful of you Sweetie Belle, thank you," said Rarity as she used her magic to leaf through the mail.

Bill, bill, bill, invite to one of Pinkie's parties, postcard from the parents, junk mail, junk mail, junk mail...hello, what is this?

Rarity saw what appeared to be a leaflet of some sort. She placed the rest of the mail down and opened it up.

"The incredible Iron Will turns doormats into dynamos?" she mumbled to herself as she read the text. Her eyes widened. This was an Iron Will pamphlet! Maybe it would tell her where that nasty Minotaur was headed next! She eagerly scanned the leaflet and sure enough, it had a list of all of his events on the inside. She scanned it and saw the Ponyville date that had obviously just passed. She looked one down to see that his next workshop was in...Canterlot.

Could she go to Canterlot now!? She had no orders to fill and it was a Friday meaning that her shop closed early anyway. If she took a personal day then she could be in Canterlot by one if she left as soon as possible. Sweetie Belle would be fine for the day if she was crusading with her friends. Doubtlessly Applejack could watch the three of them if things got out of hand. She smiled to herself. This was going to be a good day, she could already tell!

"Sweetie Belle," said Rarity sweetly. "Do you think that Applejack could watch you three today? I have an exceptionally urgent matter to attend to in Canterlot today." Sweetie Belle looked up from her meal with interest.

"You're going to Canterlot today?" she asked. Rarity nodded.

"I should be back by tonight so you needn't worry about sleeping accommodations. I know that you can handle yourself for the most part while I'm gone. You'll be at school for most of the day anyway."

"Uh...okay then," said Sweetie Belle. "What are you going to Canterlot for?"

"There is a new fabric that I simply must have for the shop! It is on display today in Canterlot," said Rarity. Gracious she needed to think of better lies sometimes. Sweetie Belle frowned and looked down at her breakfast again.

"Fine, don't tell me," she mumbled. Rarity gave a nervous giggle.

"Yes...however...I must begin collecting what I need for today. You can see yourself off to school, right?" Sweetie Belle nodded and put her dishes in the sink.

"I've walked to school by myself a million times. I'm almost a mare now, you know," said Sweetie Belle. Rarity had to hold back a little chuckle. Fillies, they always tried to grow up too fast.

Rarity opened up her saddlebag and placed her hunting knife inside as well as a few syringes. She didn't know how much she would need to kill Iron Will, but with enough hacking, anypony would die. She didn't really have the means to draw it out as much as she would have liked anyway.

She placed a bag of 2000 bits into her saddlebag as well as a fashionable hat that she enjoyed wearing around Canterlot. She didn't care if Upper Crust and Jet Set thought it 'looked a little country'.

"Sweetie Belle, I'm off!" said Rarity. "I'll be back later tonight."

"Okay sis, see you later then," said Sweetie Belle. Rarity walked out the door towards the Canterlot train station.

The train pulled into Canterlot after a long 6 hour ride. It had been mostly uneventful, but Rarity really did enjoy seeing the mountains as they passed some of the smaller Equestrian towns. She managed to eat the most delightful daffodil and daisy sandwich on the train, something that she just knew that she would have to try again.

She stepped off of the train and opened up the pamphlet that Iron Will had mailed to her. she scanned it, hoping that she could see where it was being held and when.

"Let's see, ah here it is," she mumbled to herself as she sat down on a nearby bench. "1:45 at the Canterlot Pavilion." Rarity glanced up at a nearby clock. It was 1:13 and there was just enough time to make it to the pavilion to see Iron Will. She placed the flier back in her bag and went towards the pavilion.

Rarity reached the pavilion at exactly 1:45. She actually managed to get a spot fairly close up and as such, she could see the stage perfectly well. Thankfully, Iron Will started his silly little show right away. She rolled her eyes as Iron Will started doing silly little dance moves to a tacky song while the crowd sheered him on. Seriously, what was the big deal with this guy?

"Hello there ponies of Canterlot! My name is Iron Will and I am here to teach you about being assertive! Stomp if you are tired of being a doormat!" The ponies in the crowd, sans Rarity, all stomped wildly. "Stomp of you want to learn to stand up for yourself!" The crowd stomped once more. "Stomp if you want to pay nothing for this seminar!" The crowd stomped once more before what he said hit them and they gave each other confused looks before laughing. "That's no joke friends," said Iron Will confidently. "Iron Will is so confident that you will be 100% satisfied, that if you are not 100% satisfied, you pay nothing!"

Rarity rolled her eyes. What a silly business model! All a pony had to do was lie that they weren't satisfied and they wouldn't have to pay anything! He should have at least charged a small entry fee if he was going to do business like that.

"You!" said Iron Will, pointing to a pony in the crowd. "Why did you roll your eyes?" Rarity looked around to see to her horror that Iron Will was pointing at her. "Iron Will wants you on stage!" he said. Rarity sighed and slowly trotted up on stage.

"Iron Will feels that you...wait...you!?"

"I see you recognize me," said Rarity calmly.

"Well...yeah," said Iron Will confusedly. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to Canterlot to try to order some fabrics for my shop," said Rarity.

"Fine, don't tell me," mumbled Iron Will. Rarity was briefly taken aback but she recovered quickly.

"I stopped by here to see what all the fuss was about," she said. Iron Will regained his composure and swag.

"The fuss is that Iron Will is going to turn all of these ponies into lean, mean, assertive machines!" sad Iron Will confidently.

"Oh I'm sure you will," said Rarity sarcastically. "But let the buyer beware I suppose."

"Do you doubt Iron Will's methods!?" asked Iron Will angrily. The crowd was beginning to mumble to themselves now.

"Well, after seeing what they did to my friend Fluttershy, I think that I have some definite reasons to," said Rarity. Oh it was so nice to knock this bully down a peg. Iron Will snorted angrily.

"Get off the stage!" he said. "You clearly don't need Iron Will's help being assertive!"

"Clearly," said Rarity. "I don't think that most of them do either." Iron Will looked absolutely livid now but before he could say anything, Rarity hopped off of the stage with the intent of quietly slipping into the back of the crowd to continue the seminar.

"Stop right there!" said Iron Will. Rarity turned around and looked back at Iron Will. "Meet my by my trailer after the show at 3:00. I pity the fool who doesn't go where Iron Will tells them to when he tells them to go there!" Rarity had to hold back a laugh but she nodded all the same.

"I'll be there," she said. She decided that she didn't need to stay after all. She could walk around Canterlot for an hour or so while Iron Will finished up his silly little seminar. Then, then he would be hers.

As she walked around looking through the shops, she stopped in at a fabric store that she was particularly fond of. She browsed around and to her absolute delight; she found a new fabric that would be perfect for her shop! She went up to the front desk and ordered three rolls to be sent to her home in Ponyville.

As she walked out of the shop, she realized how ironic it was that she had actually just done what she had said that she would do when she left this morning. She chuckled at the irony of it all and glanced at the clock. 2:56, it was time!

She walked back to the Canterlot Pavilion to see Iron Will and his goats cleaning up from the show. When Iron Will saw Rarity, he nodded and beckoned her over to a nearby trailer. She nodded back and followed.

Iron Will held the door open for Rarity as she walked up to the trailer and she stepped inside. He followed and locked the door behind him. Rarity opened up her saddlebag in anticipation. She would kill Iron Will then lure his goats into the trailer as well so she could kill them. Nopony had seen her go into the trailer as far as she knew.

"Now," said Iron Will sternly. "Would you mind explaining just what you were doing today?" Rarity sighed and readied her syringes.

"Well," she began. "I think that what I was doing was protecting the ponies of Canterlot from your evil ways."

"Evil ways?" said Iron Will. "I'm just trying to help them be less of doormat!" Rarity rolled her eyes.

"Oh don't give me that. Your seminar turned my friend Fluttershy into a complete monster. She used your techniques to act absolutely dreadfully around everypony she saw! She even turned on us and acted unpleasant when we tried to help her out." To Rarity's surprise, Iron Will's jaw dropped.

"She...she did?" he said.

"Yes she did," said Rarity with a nod. Iron Will sighed and rubbed his temples.

"I just want you to know something," he began. "I never want to have that effect on ponies. I am legitimately trying to help them become more assertive, but I don't want to turn them into ponies that treat others like doormats as well. It just goes against everything I believe in."

"Right," said Rarity, clearly unconvinced.

"No I'm serious!" said Iron Will earnestly. "I've been on the receiving end of ponies that have been overly aggressive! I know how terrible it is for the victims, I don't-"

Iron Will didn't finish his sentence. Rarity took that as the opportunity to levitate three syringes towards Iron Will and fire them at him. To her complete surprise, Iron Will's reaction time was amazing and he moved his head in time to dodge all three.

"What are you-?"

Rarity didn't give him a chance to recover. She improvised and pulled the knife of her bag and quickly plunged it into Iron Will's chest. To her surprise, the Minotaur's skin was so thick that it only went in a few centimeters before it stopped. Iron Will gave a loud yell of pain as he looked at the knife protruding from his chest. Rarity took advantage of Iron Will's surprise and tackled him to the ground before she threw her entire body weight against the knife. To her satisfaction, the knife slid in another few inches.

She stood up, covered in Iron Will's blood as she watched the dying Minotaur try to pull the knife out.

"How's that for assertive?" she said smugly. Iron Will looked up at her helplessly before a look of anger crossed his face. He actually stood up and pulled the knife out of his chest. Rarity gasped in shock as Iron Will swung the knife at her, barely missing her as she ducked. She tackled him once more and as he fell, he dropped the knife on the floor once more. Rarity took a second to pick it up but it was all the distraction that Iron Will needed. He picked her up and with a loud roar, he threw her out of the trailer. Rarity hit the ground with a loud thud and she slid for a few feet before coming to a stop.

She stood up and discovered that she wasn't injured. She picked up the knife, ready to go for round two with Iron Will when she heard a loud scream coming from her right. She turned and was surprised to see a pair of Canterlot mares looking straight at her.

"A knife! She's got a knife and she's covered in blood!" said the first mare.

"Somepony call the royal guards!" said the second. "She's trying to murder somepony!" Rarity's eyes widened in fear and she did the only thing that she could think of: she ran.

She dropped the knife and ran as fast as she could, hoping that she wasn't being pursued but guessing that she was anyway. She ran through the pavilion pool which effectively washed all of the blood off of her before she bolted towards the Canterlot train station. It wasn't the best idea but she didn't know what else to do. She couldn't stay in Canterlot, that much was certain.

Shining Armor was doing a routine drill with a dozen of his men near the Canterlot Pavilion when he heard the screams. Immediately, his men rushed forward to see a pair of screaming mares looking at a trailer and pointing at a spot just beyond it.

"What's wrong!?" he asked as he reached the duo.

"Oh thank goodness you're here!" said the first mare. "We just saw a mare come out of that trailer there, she was covered in blood and holding a knife!" Shining Armor's eyes widened and he quickly turned to his men.

"You six, go to the trailer, whoever is in there might still be alive!" he said urgently. Immediately his men rushed towards the trailer to check inside. "Did you see who did it?" he asked the two mares. "Did you get a good look at who did it?" The second mare nodded.

"She had a white coat and elegantly styled dark purple hair. She had three blue gems as a cutie mark," said the mare. Shining Armor's jaw dropped. That sounded like...no, it couldn't be!

"Wait right here," he said solemnly. Instantly he teleported back to his quarters in the castle and picked up a picture his sister had sent him not long after she arrived in Ponyville. Shining Armor then teleported back in front of the mares to show them the picture. "Is this her?" he asked, pointing to Rarity. Both of their eyes widened.

"Yes!" said the first mare. "That's her, that's definitely her!"

Rarity looked back and she was relieved to see that she wasn't being followed as far as she knew. She breathed a sigh of relief and quickly boarded a train back to Ponyville. She spent the last of her money getting a private sleeper car. She couldn't be around other ponies right now.

She walked into her room on the train and placed her saddlebag down on the bed. She sat down on the floor and took a few deep breaths to calm down.

"Well Rarity," she said. "THAT was a close one. I'm glad I got away." She smiled to herself and stood up. She was sure that Iron Will was dead. How could anypony survive something like that? She had definitely felt the knife go into his heart. Instantly her smile faded and a feeling of dread set in. Her eyes widened in fear as she remembered the rest of the events. Two mares had seen her. They had seen her holding the knife and covered in his blood! They had been calling for the royal guards who would undoubtedly check the trailer to see Iron Will dead inside. She had been caught committing a murder.

"Oh no," she said quietly to herself. "Oh no oh no oh no." her eyes began to fill with tears.

"Rarity...is there a way out of this?"

"No Rarity, there isn't. You were incredibly foolish and you attempted a daylight kill!"

"How else was I supposed to do it?"

"ANY OTHER WAY! You got greedy Rarity and now..." She collapsed on the ground and began sobbing. She immediately felt so amazingly helpless. What if the guards stopped the train? What if they went to Ponyville to look for her? What if...what if...

At that moment she realized it was all over.

She stopped crying and stood up blinking quickly.

"Oh my," she said quietly. "I...I...I'm going to die."

She listened as the train pulled her closer and closer to Ponyville. Home...for the last time.

"N...no Rarity, it...it can't end like this!"

"But it will anyway. You got greedy Rarity, you...you messed up and now you're going to pay the price for your greed. You didn't have to kill him right then and there."

"But...but..."

"No. You could have waited, you could have waited."

"And now I'm going to die," she said softly. "Now I'm going to die."

The train pulled into the station at 9:30. It was dark outside already and Rarity knew that Sweetie Belle would be asleep already. She was surprised to see that royal guards were not swarming the station looking for her, but it seemed that life was going on as usual for these ponies.

She quietly walked home from the station, only vaguely aware that ponies were gossiping that a platoon of royal guards was headed towards Ponyville. It really was the end for her.

She opened the door to her house for what she suspected was the last time. She looked around at the mannequins, each of them holding a new design that she would have sold to customers...if any customers would come here anymore.

To her total surprise, she saw Sweetie Belle asleep at the kitchen table. Her eyes filled with tears as she looked at the sleeping filly. She walked over to her and shook her awake.

"Sweetie Belle," she said softly. "Wake up Sweetie Belle." Sweetie Belle groggily opened her eyes and smiled when she was that it was Rarity.

"Hi sis," she said. "How was your day?"

"It was wonderful," said Rarity. 'I actually did find some new fabric for the shop. How was your day?"

"It was really fun!" she said happily. "We didn't get our Cutie Marks but I had fun crusading around town with the other two anyway. We tried leaf collecting and cupcake making and we even tried kayaking! We didn't get out of the harbor before Applejack put a stop to it."

Rarity led Sweetie Belle up to her room.

"You didn't have to stay up for me," said Rarity as she heard a small commotion outside.

"But I wanted to," said Sweetie Belle with a yawn. "I wanted to see my big sister when she got home." Rarity had to put every ounce of energy into not crying. Luckily Sweetie Belle was too tired to notice.

Rarity helped Sweetie Belle into her bed before she pulled the covers over her and tucked her in.

"I love you Sweetie Belle," said Rarity. "I love you more than anything in the whole world, I want you to know that." Sweetie Belle smiled at Rarity.

"I love you too big sis," she said. Rarity kissed Sweetie Belle's forehead and began singing.

Once upon a time there was a pretty fly, he had a pretty wife, this pretty fly. But one day she flew away, flew away. She had two pretty children, but one night these two pretty children flew away, flew away, into the sky, into the moon.

Sweetie Belle's eyes closed and Rarity heard light snoring coming from her. Rarity heard a large bang from downstairs as the Royal Guards broke down the door. She heard one of them ordering the others to search the house.

"Don't wake up," said Rarity softly as tears flowed freely from her eyes. "Please don't wake up, I don't want you to see this."

Rarity heard the door behind them open.

"She's here!"

She kept her eyes on Sweetie Belle as she was tackled to the ground by four royal guards. The put hoofcuffs on her but Rarity kept her eyes on Sweetie Belle as they dragged her away.

"Don't wake up," she repeated. "Please don't wake up."

Sweetie Belle's eyes fluttered open.


	26. Silent Night

"Rarity!"

"Sweetie Belle!"

"Get her downstairs," said one of the guards arresting Rarity. Rarity was dragged away, still reaching for Sweetie Belle.

"Get away from her!" said Sweetie Belle as she jumped out of bed. "She didn't do anything wrong!"

A guard shot a shield spell at Sweetie Belle, trapping her in a light blue bubble. She desperately pounded on it, trying to protect her sister.

Rarity was dragged downstairs and placed on the ground in front of Shining Armor who was looking at the whole scene grimly. Rarity saw that Sweetie Belle was taken downstairs too, still encased in the shield. Rarity looked up at Shining Armor with fear in her eyes.

"Don't hurt my sister," she said desperately.

"We won't hurt her, but I can't promise you that we won't take her with us. How much does she know?" said Shining Armor. Rarity looked around frantically as guards continued to search her house.

"Nothing!" said Rarity. "She doesn't know anything about today!"

"Rarity, what's going on?" asked Sweetie Belle.

"Your sister just attacked a Minotaur named Iron Will. She fatally stabbed him in the chest with a large knife," said Shining Armor.

The thought briefly crossed Rarity's mind to deny the charge but she knew that it was no use.

"Rarity," said Sweetie Belle. "Did you really?" Tears began falling from Rarity's eyes as she slowly nodded. Sweetie Belle gave a small whimper.

"Don't kill her," she said pathetically.

"Well we don't have all of the details of the case yet," said Shining Armor who wanted to be doing this just as much as Rarity and Sweetie Belle did. "We-"

"Sir we think we've found something," said a guard. Shining Armor turned around and saw that two guards were inside Rarity's storage closet, looking at what was theoretically a blank wall.

"What is it?" asked Shining Armor.

"We knocked on it and it's hollow. There's something on the other side." said the other guard. Shining Armor nodded at them and one of them fired up his horn and disintegrated the wall. Rarity's eyes widened. It was definitely all over now. The two guards tentatively walked down the stairs.

The whole room was silent as everypony listened to the two guards walking down the stairs, each hoofstep getting quieter. Rarity's heart was skipping beats right and left and she didn't even know if she was breathing anymore. She looked over at Sweetie Belle who was looking at Shining Armor fearfully.

Suddenly, everypony heard a loud shriek and the two ran up the stairs quickly.

"What? What's down there?" asked Shining Armor. One of the guards was actually crying at what he had seen. He was sitting down and looking at the ground, tears of horror falling from his eyes. The other guard was rubbing his shoulder, trying to get him to calm down. "Would somepony please tell me what's going on!?" said Shining Armor. The second guard took a deep breath before responding.

"I...I've never seen anything like it. I think she's a serial killer!"

Shining Armor's eyes widened and his jaw dropped.

"WHAT!?"

"There were pony skins hanging on the wall as well as manes, hooves, and we even saw to cut off faces hanging on the wall," said the first guard. Shining Armor looked at the basement and resolutely trotted down the stairs, followed by three other guards. Rarity didn't know what to do! The brother of her best friend, the captain of the royal guard, was mere seconds away from seeing for himself what Rarity was. She looked at the two who had seen it first. The first one seemed to be calming down a bit more while the second still tried to calm him down, but he was obviously extremely shaken himself.

After a few minutes, Rarity heard Shining Armor come upstairs. He walked back into the main room with a look of sheer terror on his face.

"Sir...are you okay?" said one of the guards.

"No," he said. "I'm pretty bucking far from okay."

"Is it that bad down there?" another asked.

"Worse," responded one of the guards who had gone down with him. Shining Armor nodded before turning back to Rarity.

"You are both under arrest for this," he said shakily. Rarity's eyes widened as Sweetie Belle began crying again.

"No!" said Rarity desperately. "She didn't do anything! She's innocent!" Shining Armor looked contemptuously at Rarity.

"I can't know that for sure," he said. "Twilight has told me that she lives here and if you've been doing that, I can't know that she doesn't know anything." Rarity looked desperately at Sweetie Belle who had been taken out of the shield and was now having hoofcuffs put on her.

"Please don't!" she said. "Are those really needed!?"

"Rarity," said Shining Armor, causing Rarity to turn her head back to him. "Does Twilight know about this?" Rarity paused for a second before shaking her head profusely. Unfortunately, Shining Armor picked up on the pause and Rarity saw tears forming in his eyes. He turned to his second-in-command and opened his mouth to say something before he shut it again.

"Sir?" said the guard uneasily. Shining Armor began blinking very fast but he regained his composure.

"I want," he said before his voice cracked. "I want you to place my sister...and her friend under arrest under suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder."

"All five of them?" asked the guard incredulously. Shining Armor nodded.

"Please!" said Rarity hysterically. "They didn't have anything to do with this!"

"I. Can't. Know. That!" said Shining Armor angrily. "Do you think that this doesn't tear me apart inside, murderer!?" Rarity tried to stutter out an answer but she was cut off by the furious unicorn. "My duties come before even my family and if I have good reason to believe that Twilight is mixed up in all of this then it is my duty to arrest her!"

"But she didn't-"

"I have to arrest the other four too because of how close you all are! If Twilight knew then I can't guarantee that the other four didn't know anything!"

"But they don't!" said Rarity. Shining Armor shook his head in disgust.

"Get her out of my sight," he said bitterly. "And get a team down here to go over the basement."

Four guards led Rarity and Sweetie Belle outside the boutique. A small crowd had gathered when they heard the commotion and they all gasped when they saw Sweetie Belle and Rarity being led away and placed in a police wagon. Rarity heard the crowd chattering amongst themselves. She scanned the crowd, hoping to pick up on some familiar faces so she could see them one last time.

She and Sweetie Belle were shoved inside the wagon and the door was slammed shut behind them. Rarity heard the guards talking to each other.

"We gotta go pick up the other five before we go back," said one.

"Are they all gonna fit in there?" asked another.

"I think so," said the first one. "But if not, who cares?"

"But one of them is the captain's sister!" said a third as the wagon pulled away.

"Well, my hooves are tied," said the first one. "If they go quietly then we'll have no problems."

Rarity stopped listening and turned her attention to her sister who was huddled in a corner, shaking violently.

"Sweetie Belle," said Rarity quietly. "Sweetie Belle can you hear me?" Sweetie Belle nodded slightly.

"Why did you keep that stuff down there?" she asked. "Why didn't you get rid of it?"

"Sweetie Belle," said Rarity quietly. "Remember when I said that my friends cleansed me with the Elements?" Sweetie Belle nodded. "Well, it didn't work."

Sweetie Belle looked up at Rarity.

"You mean...you've still been killing all this time?" Rarity nodded. Sweetie Belle gave a small whimper and tried to shrink down as small as she could. Rarity placed a hoof on her shoulder.

"I'm so sorry Sweetie Belle," said Rarity. "I'm so sorry."

Rarity looked up and noticed that the carriage had stopped. She looked through the bars and saw Sugar Cube Corner in front of the wagon. Rarity's eyes filled with tears once more.

"Not Pinkie Pie," she said pathetically.

She saw four guards knock on the door of the confectionery which prompted a very tired looking Mr. Cake to open the door. his eyes widened when he saw both the guards and the police wagon outside. Rarity strained her ears and found that they were close enough to hear everything.

"Uh, good evening officers, what can I do for you?" he asked nervously.

"We have an arrest warrant for one 'Pinkie Pie', we've come to arrest her on suspicion of conspiracy to murder. Mr. Cake gasped and Rarity vaguely heard Mrs. Cake ask what the problem was. She saw Mr. Cake motion for his wife to stand back before turning towards the guards again.

"Look officers, there must be some kind of mistake!" he said. "Pinkie Pie wouldn't harm a fly!"

"Is she here?" asked one of the guards.

"Well-"

"What's going on?" said a distinct high-pitched voice that undoubtedly came from Pinkie Pie. "The twins are trying to get their rest and all of this banging is...oh..." Rarity's heart sank when she heard Pinkie Pie abruptly stop talking.

"Are you Pinkie Pie?" asked one of the guards.

"Y...yeah," said Pinkie nervously. The guards nodded and shoved Mr. Cake aside.

"Pinkie Pie, you are under arrest under suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder," said one of the guards.

"I'm telling you, there has to be a mistake!"

Rarity's heart broke as she heard Pinkie Pie whimper in fear as hoofcuffs were placed on her forelegs. In a few seconds, Rarity saw Pinkie Pie being led out of Sugar Cube Corner with a look of utter confusion and terror on her face. The Cakes looked on fearfully as Pinkie Pie was placed into the police wagon.

When Pinkie Pie saw that Rarity and Sweetie Belle were in the wagon too, she completely lost all control. She wrapped her forelegs, as best as she could, around Rarity and began violently sobbing into her shoulder.

"Rarity," said Pinkie Pie. "What's going on!? Why are they doing this? They said that I might be a murderer, I've never hurt anypony in my entire life!" Rarity didn't know how to calm down her sad pink friend so instead, she just opted for stroking her mane as the wagon moved on to its next destination.

Pinkie continued crying throughout the entire ride before the wagon stopped once again. Rarity's heart skipped a beat when she realized that they were in front of the library. The guards knocked on the door once more.

Rarity saw a sleepy Twilight open it and once again Rarity had to watch as one of her friends was arrested and put into the wagon.

When Twilight was put into the wagon, she saw a sobbing Pinkie Pie holding a frightened Rarity with Sweetie Belle silent in the corner.

"Rarity," said Twilight worriedly as she tried to move closer to the two, something made more difficult by the hoofcuffs. "What is going on!? Why are we all being arrested?"

"They know about me Twilight," said Rarity simply. Twilight's eyes widened and she shook her head.

"No, no this isn't happening! We cleansed you with the Elements; there is no way that they could have found out!"

"And yet, here we are," said Sweetie Belle bitterly. It hurt Rarity to the very core to hear Sweetie Belle talk like that but she also knew full well that she deserved every hateful word that would be slung at her for the remainder of her short life.

[center]* * * *[/center]

The wagon moved slowly towards Canterlot in the dead of night, its occupants as silent as the night itself.

The seven ponies all sat silently in the carriage, pondering what was going to happen next. Each of the ponies had hoofcuffs on, something that Rarity found inexcusable but she was not in a position to argue it, and was looking contemplative.

Applejack's arrest had been as simple as Twilight's. The guards had knocked and they arrested her as soon as she answered. She looked confused when she saw Sweetie Belle, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight had been arrested too.

Fluttershy's tears hadn't stopped since her arrest, which came directly after Applejack's and even the efforts of Angel and some of the other woodland creatures hadn't deterred the guards from arresting Fluttershy.

Since Rainbow Dash lived in the sky, Rarity and the others hadn't seen her arrest, they only saw Rainbow flying towards the wagon, flanked by two guards. Immediately after that they had all been sent to Canterlot.

At the moment, Sweetie Belle was still curled up in the corner while Twilight did her best to comfort her. Pinkie Pie was still holding on to Rarity but her tears had stopped for now. Rainbow Dash was trying to comfort a sobbing Fluttershy while Applejack simply stared out the window, waiting for their arrival.

Rarity wondered if she should say something, but what would she say? She had just gotten her best friends and her sister arrested for crimes that she herself had committed. They were all innocent in this!

All of them except Sweetie Belle.

Rarity's eyes widened as she remembered that fateful day in the basement with Scarlet Tomato. Rarity hadn't been the one to kill Scarlet Tomato that day. No, it was Sweetie Belle who had done that. if the guards found out then Sweetie Belle would be executed just as surely as Rarity was about to be! Even though Twilight has erased the memory of her actually committing the deed, she still remembered being down in the basement while Rarity mutilated Scarlet Tomato.

That meant life in prison if the guards ever found out.

Rarity reached over and poked Twilight. Twilight looked up, worry etched across every line in her face. Rarity leaned in and she was glad to see that Sweetie Belle had actually fallen asleep.

"Twilight," said Rarity in a voice barely above a whisper. "What did you do in terms of a memory spell with Sweetie Belle?" Twilight took a deep breath before answering.

"I...I cleared her memory of her doing anything. She just remembers being down there, that's all."

"So she'll only get life in prison if they find out about that," said Rarity. A tear rolled down Twilight's face and she nodded.

"I promise to make sure that they don't," she said quietly.

Rarity leaned back and looked down at Pinkie Pie who had also thankfully fallen asleep. She sighed and decided to try to get some sleep herself...somehow.

[center]* * * *[/center]

She awoke after what she surmised was a few hours to discover that they had arrived in Canterlot. She saw through her window that a bunch of Canterlot ponies were looking confusedly at the police wagon that was being pulled towards the royal guard headquarters.

She looked around to see that the others had fallen asleep as well. Good, they would need their rest if they were to deal with what was to come.

After 20 more minutes, the wagon screeched to a halt in front of the headquarters. The sudden movement woke the other six ponies up and they groggily sat up.

The door opened to reveal a dozen guards motioning for them to exit the wagon.

One by one, the seven ponies filed out of the wagon and were led inside the headquarters.

They were directed towards a room that turned out to be an interrogation room of some sort. There were nine chairs and a large table in the room, meaning that it was kind of cramped, and each of the ponies sat down at one. The guards left them alone in the room.

The group sat in silence for only a moment before Rainbow Dash spoke up.

"Okay, does anypony here know what is going on? Why are we all being charged with conspiracy to murder!? Who are we supposed to have supposedly murdered again!?" Rarity wanted to respond with the truth but she just didn't know how to at the moment. It didn't matter, she could find out soon enough anyway.

"I don't know!" said Fluttershy. "I can't see how they would think that any of us would be capable of something so horrid!"

"I've never hurt anypony," said Pinkie Pie sadly. "What did I do to deserve this?"

"Pinkie Pie," said Rarity softly. "You didn't do anything. I know for a fact that you will be released and that it'll just turn out to be a big misunderstanding. Pinkie Pie nodded.

"I know you're right," she said. "But this is really scary!"

"I know this must be hard for you all," said a powerful, yet serene, voice that could only have come from one pony in all of Equestria.

The seven ponies looked up to see none other than Princess Celestia walk into the room, followed by a trio of ponies in suits.

"Princess Celestia!" said Twilight. "What's going on?" Celestia stared silently at the group for a moment before she turned to the ponies in suits.

"Based on their actions thus far, I am confident that Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash know absolutely nothing about what is going on. I order you to release them."

Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow all breathed a huge sigh of relief as the ponies took off their cuffs and led them out of the room. They stopped briefly to look at the other four ponies.

"Why aren't they being freed?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Because I believe that the four of them know exactly why they are here," said Celestia.

"Applejack didn't do anything either," said Twilight.

"But she does know why you are all here, yes?" said Celestia.

"I...I think I do know what's goin' on," said Applejack quietly.

"But she didn't do anything wrong!" said Twilight desperately. "She only found out after the fact, when she was too late to do anything about it!"

"Nevertheless, she should have told me once she found out. She should have-"

"What would you have done in her position!?" said Twilight angrily. Princess Celestia looked angrily at Twilight before she gave a frustrated sigh.

"Release Applejack too. The other three are going to stay here."

Applejack rushed over to join her friends as the four ponies were led out of the room.

Princess Celestia used her magic to remove a few of the chairs before her and the three ponies she was with each took a seat across from Twilight, Rarity, and Sweetie Belle. She focused her attention on Rarity first.

"So, you're a serial killer," she said. Rarity nodded quietly. "Why?"

Rarity looked up at Celestia and met her gaze.

"What do you want me to say?" she asked. "Does it really matter why? We all know that I'm guilty and we all know what that means."

Celestia looked contemplatively at Rarity before turning to Twilight.

"I take it this is the reason that you needed the Elements of Harmony that night?" said Celestia. Twilight nodded.

"Princess Luna thought that it might work if we used the Elements to cleanse her of her need to kill." Celestia looked angry now.

"So you thought that if she was cleansed then it wouldn't matter that she had been a serial killer!?" she said angrily. "Why in Equestria did you think that it would even work!?"

"It did work for a time!" said Rarity. Celestia turned her gaze to her.

"It did?" she said.

"Yes," said Rarity with a nod. "I went almost two years without...well...you know."

"But who wielded your Element?" asked Celestia.

"Luna did," said Twilight. Celestia sighed and looked at Twilight sadly.

"Even then Luna did not have the control over the Elements that she thought she did. Her hold on them was so weak that I'm surprised that they worked at all."

"But it did work!" said Rarity. "I immediately felt like I didn't have to kill anymore!"

"It was the Placebo Effect," said Celestia simply. "Nothing more. You believed that you had been cured and so you were for a short while."

"Please don't blame Luna, blame me!" said Twilight. "She was just trying to return the favor of freeing her from Nightmare Moon!"

"I don't see that as an excuse," said Celestia. "I see that as a betrayal. She should have told me!"

"What would you have done in our position!?" said Twilight angrily. "Rarity is like my sister, would you have willingly let your sister be killed for her crimes!?"

"I did have to make that choice," said Celestia.

"And you couldn't bring yourself to kill her!" said Twilight. "You merely banished her to the moon. Well, we didn't want to kill her either so we tried to cleanse her with the Elements!" Celestia looked sadly at Twilight. "In our own way, we did exactly what you did for exactly the same reason: we couldn't just let her be killed so we put all of our cards on the Elements of Harmony."

Celestia sighed and Rarity was surprised to see a tear fall from her eyes. Celestia used her magic to take off Twilight's hoofcuffs before she looked at Sweetie Belle.

"What is her role in all of this?" she asked.

"For all intents and purposes, the same as mine. She found out about it but she couldn't bear to let Rarity die so she let us hit her with the Elements." Rarity tensed up, hoping that Celestia would believe the lie. Celestia nodded and removed Sweetie Belle's hoofcuffs as well. She turned back to one of the ponies in suits.

"They are free to go," she said. The pony nodded and he led Sweetie Belle and Twilight out the door.

Now it was just Rarity alone in the room with two other ponies and Princess Celestia herself. it was all Rarity could do to meet Celestia's gaze.

"Before we begin," she said. "Just know that this hurts me more than anything I have had to do in centuries. You...you wielded and Element of Harmony and brought my sister back to me as well as defeated Discord so I feel that you could have been more, Rarity."

"I've always been this way," said Rarity simply.

"What do you mean?" asked Celestia.

"I want to hear you guess, how long do you think I've been doing this?" asked Rarity.

"I don't know," said Celestia. "And I refuse to play any games so you might as well just tell me." Rarity sighed and nodded.

"I first killed three foals when I was eight years old." Celestia's jaw dropped.

"W...what!?" she said in shock.

"They were schoolyard bullies that had cornered me in a creek that was very sacred to me. They were going to beat me up and I defended myself with a rock. I didn't mean to kill the first one but the blow to the head was fatal. I killed the other two soon after with the rock."

Celestia had to pause for a moment to regain her composure before she returned to the conversation.

"So you killed in self-defense the first time," she said. "Why didn't you simply tell somepony about what had happened? Why did you have to kill the other two as well?"

"I suppose that I panicked," said Rarity. It was a lie of course, she had done it to cleanse her creek but Celestia didn't need that many details.

"So why did you keep on killing!?" asked Celestia.

"I think that I just got a taste for the power that I felt when their lives were in my hooves," said Rarity. "I didn't mean for it to happen that way, but it awoke a craving inside of me and I became addicted to that feeling."

Celestia sighed and nodded.

"Very well," she said.

The room was silent for a brief moment before Rarity spoke up.

"What...what now then?" she asked. Celestia paused for a moment before answering.

"Rarity, I have to be honest with you, this is for all intents and purposes your trial. This case is so open-and-shut that we don't need to go to official court with this. At this moment, I really just want to get the hard part out of the way."

"What do you mean 'hard part'?" asked Rarity worriedly. Celestia turned to one of the ponies and nodded. The pony opened up his briefcase and dumped what turned out to be a gigantic stack of photographs on the table. Rarity looked at them confusedly.

"These are the pictures of all of the ponies that have gone missing in Equestria for the past 20 years. I want you to tell us which of them you are responsible for."

"I suppose that I can try," she said. "I don't know if I remember all of them.

"Just do it," said Celestia. Rarity nodded and used her magic to pick up the first photo. She examined it to see that it was a photo of the solicitor that she had murdered that fateful night with Sweetie Belle. She nodded and gave it to Celestia.

"Him," she said. "I killed him."

The other pony took the picture and jotted something down on a notepad. Rarity picked up the second photo and examined it before shaking her head.

"I had nothing to do with this one."

The other pony took the picture and put it back in his briefcase.

[center]* * * *[/center]

Over the next four hours, Rarity looked through each of the photos to find her victims.

Trixie, Scootaloo's parents, Gilda, Scarlet Tomato, Cherry Bomb, Sweet Tomato, Janice, Trixie's Parents, they were all in there as well as many more. Each conformation seemed to make Celestia sadder and she looked to be on the verge of tears.

However, eventually Rarity finished looking through the photos and the two ponies organized them and put them in their respective briefcases to fill out the reports.

Rarity looked up at Celestia and saw that despite herself, Celestia was crying. Not openly mind you, but there were unmistakably tears falling from her face.

She waited until her companions were ready before she stood up and began walking out the door. Before she reached it, she turned around and looked deep into Rarity's eyes.

"Rarity, I sentence you to be executed by lethal injection tomorrow at 10:00 for your crimes against ponydom. I wish there was another way," said Celestia sadly.

Celestia left the room and within a few minutes, a guard came in and escorted Rarity to a secure cell.

When she was inside, Rarity sat down on her bed, too scared to even cry.


	27. Goodnight

With her head held low, Twilight Sparkle walked back into the main room of the royal guard headquarters with Sweetie Belle by her side. She looked sadly at Sweetie Belle, knowing that she would now have to grow up without a sister to look up to. Having an older sibling herself, it was heart wrenching.

When she reached the room, she looked up to see Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy sitting in chairs that had been put out for them. When they saw Twilight and Sweetie Belle, they instantly stood up and walked over to them.

"Twilight, thank goodness you're okay!" said Applejack.

"We're both fine," said Twilight. "They let us go without charging us with anything."

Twilight saw Pinkie Pie look behind Twilight with a confused look on her face.

"But…where is Rarity?" she asked confusedly.

"Yeah," said Rainbow with a nod. "Didn't they let her go too? I mean, I'm sure that she didn't do anything wrong, just like the rest of us!"

At this Twilight's lower lip began quivering and tears slowly began streaming down her face. She let loose a single sob before regaining control.

"T…Twilight," said Fluttershy nervously. "What's going on? What's wrong with Rarity?" Applejack's mouth fell open slightly and her eyes widened.

"Oh no," she said quietly. "Don't tell me that…" Twilight nodded.

"Yeah, I think they did," she said sadly. At that moment, Sweetie Belle completely lost control and she collapsed on the ground, loudly sobbing. Fluttershy rushed over to her and scooped her up. She began rocking her back and forth and stroking her mane.

"Shhh," she said soothingly. "It'll all be okay. I'm sure that they'll ask Rarity a few more questions and then she'll be out here with us and we can all go home."

"No Fluttershy," said Twilight softly. "She's not coming back."

"What do you mean 'she's not coming back'?" asked Rainbow Dash nervously. "Are they keeping her here for a while?" Twilight shook her head.

"I imagine that she'll only be here for a few days at most," said Twilight. Rainbow Dash breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh that's good," said Rainbow. "They'll let her go after a few days?"

"No they won't," said Twilight.

"Well if they aren't keeping her here for more than a few days but they aren't letting her go then then what…" All of a sudden it hit Rainbow. "Twilight…they're not gonna…execute her, are they?" Twilight looked up at Rainbow Dash and made eye contact with her. The cyan Pegasus looked more worried than Twilight had ever seen her.

Before she could answer, a royal guard walked up to them.

"Princess Celestia has allowed you six to see the prisoner in about three hours after they complete the operation," he said.

"Operation?" said Applejack. "What operation?" But the guard had already left.

"Twilight," said Rainbow Dash. "You never did answer my question: are they going to kill Rarity?" Twilight looked back at Rainbow Dash and nodded.

"Yes Rainbow, I think they are." Rainbow's eyes widened in horror and she shook her head.

"What!? Why would they do that!?" asked Rainbow. "She hasn't done anything wrong and if she has, there's no way she did anything so bad that they need to execute her! I know Rarity and she wouldn't do anything like that!"

"But she did," said Applejack. Fluttershy looked at Applejack uncertainly.

"What do you mean?" asked Fluttershy. Twilight took a deep breath.

"I think that she should be the one to explain when we see her in a few hours."

"I agree," said Applejack.

"But…I don't…I don't understand," said Rainbow Dash pathetically. "What did…I mean…what's going on? Why was I arrested this morning and why are they going to execute Rarity?"

"Well maybe this is all just one bit misunderstanding," said Pinkie Pie, trying to sound upbeat as usual. "I'm sure that they'll realize their mistake and release Rarity. She's a wielder of an Element of Harmony, just like the rest of us so they won't execute her."

Twilight was too tired and in too much shock to correct Pinkie Pie. Applejack seemed to be in a similar mental state.

"Should we try to contact her parents?" said Applejack. Twilight nodded.

"I'll see what I can dig up," she said. Before Applejack could respond, the doors to the station burst open revealing Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, Spike, and Big Macintosh.

"What are you doing here?" asked Applejack.

"We heard you got arrested and we came to see if you were alright!" said Apple Bloom. Applejack looked angrily at Big Macintosh.

"Why did you bring 'em all here?" she asked angrily. "You shoulda kept 'em at home!"

"Why?" asked Big Macintosh. "What's goin' on?" Applejack opened her mouth to answer but she shut it again.

"Sweetie Belle!" said Scootaloo worriedly. "What's wrong with Sweetie Belle?"

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo rushed over to their fellow crusader and looked up at Fluttershy.

"What's wrong with her?" asked Apple Bloom. Fluttershy looked at the duo sadly but she didn't respond.

"Big Mac," said Applejack sternly. "I want you to take the three of 'em home."

"Don't. You. [i]Dare[/i] send us home right now AJ," said Apple Bloom angrily.

"Apple Bloom—"

"NO! Our friend is here and she's in some kind of trouble! We want to stay here and help her through it just like you would do if it was one of your friends!"

"What's goin' on here aint for fillies to understand yet!" said Applejack.

"What's going on?" asked Scootaloo worriedly. "What is so bad that we have to go home instead of help our friend!"

"Where is Rarity?" asked Spike, looking around the room for his crush. "Are they still questioning her? Where is she?"

The Crusaders and Spike both looked up expectantly at Twilight, hoping for an answer.

"She…she's not going to be coming home," said Twilight softly.

"Why not?" asked Spike who was clearly growing nervous. "Are they keeping her overnight or are they—"

"She won't be home ever again," said Twilight. She knew that it was pointless to lie. They would all know in a few hours anyway.

"Why not!?" asked Spike desperately. Twilight looked down at Spike, willing herself to say what the four of them who had just entered were expecting to hear. Instead she merely shook her head and began walking out the station door.

"I've got to go find Rarity's parents," she said sadly.

[center]* * * *[/center]

Finding Rarity's parents took much less time than Twilight thought it would. She contacted the office where the two of them worked and discovered that they were both in Canterlot at that very moment, selling some knick-knack or other. The receptionist that Twilight talked to directed them towards the Canterlot Pavilion where the two were supposed to be at a convention.

Twilight walked towards the Canterlot Pavilion and sure enough, the convention was taking place just as expected.

Twilight entered the convention and looked around the Pavilion for Rarity's parents. She almost hoped that they weren't there so that they wouldn't have to see their oldest daughter see executed, but it was only a few minutes before Twilight saw the two of them behind a table presenting a product. Twilight walked up to them and in a few seconds, Rarity's parents spotted her and waved.

"Well hello there Twilight," said Rarity's father with a smile. "Fancy seeing you here."

"How are you?" said Rarity's mother. Twilight opened her mouth to respond but no words came. This was going to be harder than she possibly imagined.

Rarity's parents looked at each other confusedly, wondering what was wrong with Twilight.

"Is something wrong?" asked Rarity's mother. Twilight nodded and Rarity's parents went into panic mode.

"Did something happen to Rarity or Sweetie Belle?" asked Rarity's father. Twilight nodded once more.

"Oh my Celestia!" said Rarity's mother. "What happened to them!?" Twilight took a deep breath and did her best to answer.

"Uh…late last night Rarity, Sweetie Belle, me, and my friends were arrested by the royal guards and brought to Canterlot for questioning.

"Arrested, what in Equestria for?" asked Rarity's father. Twilight began crying again and Rarity's mother seemed to be crying as well.

"Where are they?" asked Rarity's father.

"They're…they're at the station with the rest of my friends. They released all of us except for Rarity."

"Why didn't they release Rarity!?" asked Rarity's father.

"Because…because she's guilty," said Twilight softly.

"Guilty? Guilty of what!? What did she do!?" asked Rarity's father. Twilight began sobbing and Rarity's father took a deep breath. "Take us to her," he said. Twilight nodded and beckoned the two to follow her.

[center]* * * *[/center]

The three arrived at the royal guard headquarters after a half hour of walking. When they walked in, Rarity's parents immediately saw Sweetie Belle and they ran up to her and took her out of Fluttershy's forelegs. Rarity's mother cradled her and looked back to Twilight.

"Is she okay?" she asked worriedly.

"Physically yes," said Twilight. "They didn't hurt her or anything."

"How is she doing emotionally?" asked Rarity's father.

"Emotionally…I don't think that the happy filly that you know and love is going to be around for a while…if ever again," said Twilight sadly.

"What!?" said Rarity's mother. "What do you mean!? Would somepony please explain to me what is happening to my children!?" Before Twilight could respond, a guard walked in and addressed the group.

"The operation went faster than we expected and she's conscious again. You can see her if you want," he said.

"Operation!?" said Rarity's father. "What operation!?" The guard didn't answer but he instead beckoned them to follow him.

Rarity's mother put Sweetie Belle down and they followed him. Applejack turned to Big Macintosh.

"Will ya watch Spike, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom while we're in there?" she asked.

"Eeyup," said Big Macintosh.

"But sis—"

"You are not goin' and that is final!" said Applejack angrily. Apple Bloom shot her an angry look but she didn't argue with her.

The eight ponies followed the guard into the holding cell area and he pointed to the end of the hall.

"She's in there. You have twenty minutes," he said. Twilight nodded and the guard left, leaving the eight of them to file down the hall silently.

It only took a few seconds before they were all at the end of the hall where they saw Rarity silently sitting in the cell, staring intently at the floor with a totally blank expression on her face. Twilight gasped in shock when she saw her.

"Rarity, what happened to your horn!?"

"Isn't it obvious?" said Rarity blankly. "They surgically removed it so I couldn't cast any spells when they…you know."

"Oh my baby," said Rarity's mother. "What have they done to you?" Rarity blinked once but didn't answer. She just continued staring at the floor.

"What is going on Rarity?" asked Rarity's father. "Why did the arrest you and remove you horn?"

"Well father," said Rarity. "They arrested me because they found out that I've been butchering ponies in my basement for many years now. They removed my horn so that I don't try anything foolish when they execute me tomorrow."

The hall was dead silent as each of the ponies processed this information. It was Rainbow Dash who spoke up first.

"You're…you're a serial killer?" she said in a horrified whisper.

"Yep," said Rarity simply. "I've been killing ponies since I was eight years old. I messed up on my latest one and they found out about it so here I am."

"I don't…I don't understand," said Pinkie Pie. "They wouldn't execute a pony who was a wielder of an Element of Harmony, would they?"

At this Rarity looked up at Pinkie Pie with a gentle look in her eyes.

"Pinkie Pie," she said gently. "I know that this is hard for you but they are indeed going to execute me. Princess Celestia herself passed down my sentence. It'll be tomorrow at 10:00 by lethal injection."

"N…no," said Pinkie Pie, hoping desperately that somepony was pulling a very mean prank on her. "Y-y-you aren't gonna—"

"Yes I am Pinkie," said Rarity. "I am going to die tomorrow."

Upon hearing that, Fluttershy broke out into sobs. Rainbow Dash put a hoof over her shoulder to comfort her, but Rarity could see that tears were flowing from her eyes too.

"D-d-don't s-s-say things like t-t-that Rarity," said Pinkie. "Y-y-you're going to be okay!"

Rarity looked down at the floor again and shook her head.

"Pinkie Pie," she said quietly. "I need you to understand that this isn't a joke or a prank or anything like that. I am a serial killer and I will be executed tomorrow. I need you to understand that.

"N-no!" said Pinkie Pie hysterically. "They've got the wrong pony! They'll realize it soon and they'll give you your horn back and let you go and then when you get back to Ponyville we can have a big party and you'll—"

"Pinkie Pie please don't do this to yourself," said Rarity.

"She's not," said Twilight. "You're doing it to her. You're reason that she has to go through this. You're doing this to her."

"Rarity," said Fluttershy pathetically. "Why?"

Rarity looked back up at Fluttershy with the same blank expression on her face.

"I would rather that you didn't know the details," she said. "I don't want you to suffer any more than you have to because of this."

"That's too bad!" said Rainbow angrily. "We're all going through Tartarus right now so don't even try to spare her feelings; it's far too late for that!"

Rarity didn't respond but she instead turned to Sweetie Belle.

"I'm leaving everything to you," she said. "The boutique, my money, my dresses, Opal, everything. It's all yours once I…"

Sweetie Belle merely nodded.

The guard came back after a few more minutes of silence and the eight ponies left the hallway. Rarity looked up to see them go and once they left she curled up into a ball on her bed and stared blankly at the wall.

The eight ponies filed back into the main room and when Big Macintosh, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Spike saw them come in, they all rushed over to them.

"What's goin' on?" asked Apple Bloom. "Is Rarity going to be okay?"

"I need you all to sit down," said Twilight. "I have something to say."

The ponies and dragon all sat on the chairs in the room and looked up at Twilight. Twilight took a deep breath before biting the bullet and revealing the secret.

"Rarity is a serial killer," she said. "She was captured last night when they found out somehow and they are going to execute her by lethal injection tomorrow at 10:00."

The room was silent for a moment. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom both began crying and Big Macintosh just looked shocked beyond belief. However, it was Spike that was worrying Twilight. He merely sat there staring at the floor with a look oddly reminiscent of the one that Rarity had when they had seen her.

"Spike," said Twilight. "Can you—" Before Twilight got any further Spike jumped up off of his seat and ran out the door. "Spike!" said Twilight. "Come back!"

Spike ignored Twilight and the unicorn soon gave chase. None of the others bothered to go after the two of them. They all knew that Twilight was the only one who could truly reach him.

Applejack looked up at the clock and saw that it was 4:32 P.M. She sighed and looked back at the rest of the ponies in the room. Each of them was merely staring blankly at a spot on the floor. Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom were all crying. Applejack desperately wished that she could say something to them to make it all better but what in Equestria could she possibly say?

At that moment, one of the ponies that had been in the room with Princess Celestia with Rarity walked through the door. He began walking towards the door out of the station but he turned his head briefly to see the group of ponies. He shook his head sadly and continued to walk but he suddenly stopped in his tracks. He turned to look back at them and his eyes landed on an orange filly that looked familiar somehow. He opened up the briefcase full of pictured of Rarity's confirmed kills and leafed through the photos. The ponies in the room noticed him doing it and looked at him with interest.

Finally he found the photo he was looking for and he pulled it out. He looked up at Scootaloo and then back at the photo. He looked very uneasy as he walked up to the group.

"Um…hello there," he said nervously.

"Hi," said Applejack.

"Uh, what is your name?" he said as he pointed to Scootaloo. Scootaloo looked at him confusedly.

"My name is Scootaloo," she said. "Why do you ask?"

A look of horror crossed his face and he had to take a few deep breaths before he continued.

"What um…what are you doing here?" he asked.

"I'm here because you arrested my friend and her sister!" said Scootaloo angrily.

"You are here to support Sweetie Belle and Rarity through this time, yes?"

"Yes, I am!" said Scootaloo.

The pony glanced at the photo once more before continuing.

"Scootaloo, do you know where your biological parents are?" he asked. Scootaloo's eyes widened in fear and she shook her head.

"No," she said quietly. "They dropped me off at the Ponyville Orphanage when I was about three years old." The pony closed his eyes and to the surprise of the group, he seemed to be holding back tears.

"Oh Celestia please no," he whispered before holding up the photo so that Scootaloo could see it. "Scootaloo, are these your parents?" he asked. Scootaloo's eyes widened as she saw a photo of two ponies holding a filly that was unmistakably a younger Scootaloo.

"How did you get that photo?" she asked. The pony didn't respond but instead he put the photo back in the briefcase before walking closer to Scootaloo.

"Scootaloo…that picture was in a group of pictures that I collected of all of the ponies that have gone missing in Equestria over the past twenty years."

"Gone missing?" said Scootaloo confusedly. "I—"

"Scootaloo," said the pony gently. "I compiled those photos together to show Rarity so we could determine who she killed and…she looked at that photo and said that she killed the ponies in it. Scootaloo…Rarity killed your parents."

Scootaloo recoiled a bit as if he had just smacked her across the face. The pony looked at her sympathetically. "I'm so sorry," he said quietly before he turned around and walked out of the station.

The other ponies in the room stared at Scootaloo, waiting for a reaction to the news that Rarity was the reason that she was an orphan.

"Scootaloo?" said Rainbow Dash quietly. "What are you thinking?" Scootaloo was silent for a few moments before she responded.

"I…I don't even know," she said quietly. "I'm still not entirely sure what he said." Tears were streaming down Scootaloo's face one more. "I just…I don't…what…"

Scootaloo began letting out a noise that was almost like an elongated whimper before she let out an ear piercing shriek and began loudly sobbing. She collapsed on the floor and laid there screaming and crying. Rainbow Dash got up and scooped her up and hugged her tight. Scootaloo returned the hug and screamed into Rainbow Dash's shoulder.

"Scootaloo…" began Rainbow Dash before she realized that there was nothing that she could possibly say that would make this all better. All she could do was be there for Scootaloo so that she would have a shoulder to cry on.

[center]* * * *[/center]

Twilight caught up with Spike after a few minutes and she used her magic to hold him in place while she caught up to him. Spike didn't even try to struggle out of the spell. He just stood there as Twilight ran over to him and wrapped him in a hug.

"Why, Twilight?" whispered Spike. "Why?"

"I don't know," said Twilight quietly.

"I thought that I knew her," he said pathetically. "The Rarity that I know, the one that I fell in love with, would never do anything like that!"

"I thought so too," said Twilight sadly.

"Are…are we going to be allowed to watch when she's…"

"From what I understand, yes," said Twilight. "But I don't want you going. I don't want you to see that." Spike nodded sadly.

"She was such a generous, kind, and loving pony," he said. "What happened to her?"

"She had a darkness inside of her that made her do this," said Twilight. "I want you to know that she regrets what she did. She never wanted it and I promise you that she tried to fight it."

"But she couldn't," said Spike. "She couldn't fight it."

Twilight didn't respond. Instead, she just wrapped Spike tighter into her hug.

[center]* * * *[/center]

Twilight walked through Canterlot Castle, hoping that she could see the one pony that could help her through this. If she even wanted to talk to her that is.

She walked up to the main throne room and was stopped by a duo of guards. Twilight glared at them and they sighed and let her pass. She walked through the door and saw Princess Celestia sitting on her throne with a look of pure sorrow on her face. She looked up when she saw Twilight and she sighed.

"I expected you to come sooner," she said sadly.

"I was comforting Spike," replied Twilight. "You know how much he loved Rarity.

"Indeed I do," said Celestia. "Indeed I do."

The pair was silent for a few moments before Twilight spoke up again.

"Is she…is she going to Tartarus for this?" asked Twilight. "She wielded an Element of Harmony and I do truly believe that she was a good pony in spite of the evil things that she did."

"Why do you believe that?" asked Celestia.

"I believe that because I think she wanted to do what she did, even if she didn't admit that to herself. If she was truly all evil then she wouldn't have felt remorse for a moment of it," said Twilight.

"Does she feel true remorse or does she feel bad that she got caught?" asked Celestia.

"She felt remorse for her actions even before she was caught," said Twilight. "I know that she truly wished that she could take it all back." Celestia nodded.

"I assume that you talked with her about it a lot?" said Celestia.

"A few times, yes," said Twilight.

"And you know that she continued to kill even after she was supposedly cleansed by the Elements?"

"Yes," said Twilight. Princes Celestia shed a single tear and took a moment to regain control of her emotions.

"Twilight, you realize that by not telling me about her you led to the deaths of many other pones, ponies that would be alive right now if you had done the right thing," said Celestia.

"I thought I was—"

"No, I mean the [i]real[/i] right thing," said Celestia. "If you had told me when you found out then those ponies would be safe at home right now. As you know, Rarity still would have been executed when I found out but we came to that end anyway." Twilight nodded sadly. "Your actions, whatever else you thought they were, directly led to the deaths of many ponies and I cannot overlook that."

"I know you can't," said Twilight softly.

"I need you to understand that I can no longer accept you as my student. I have to, for all intents and purposes, banish you to Ponyville for the time being. I don't want you leaving there. You won't get a prison sentence, nor will your friends, but you are no longer my protégé."

"I figured as much," said Twilight sadly. She turned around and slowly walked out of the throne room.

"In answer to your question Twilight about whether or not Rarity is going to be sentenced to eternity in Tartarus for her actions…yes, I think that she is. I can't know for sure, but I think so," said Celestia sadly.

Twilight nodded once more and left the room.

[center]* * * *[/center]

Rarity sat on her bed in the cell, waiting for the executioner as the last hours of her life ticked away. She hadn't gotten much sleep through the night which was unfortunate for her as she wanted this to be done with as soon as possible.

She walked up to the bars and tried her best to see the clock that was at the end of the hall. She squinted when she saw it and read the time. 9:33. She nodded and sat back down on the bed. It was time.

Within ten minutes, a trio of guards walked up to her cell and opened it. She looked at them, nodded, and walked out of the cell to her fate.

The walk to the execution room seemed to go very quickly for Rarity. She hardly had any time to register the fact that this would be the last time that she ever got to walk again. She would be carried out of the room when it was over.

The lead guard opened the door and Rarity saw a table with restraints on it as well as a tray with a single syringe on it.

Rarity walked up to the table and lied down on it, not even bothering to try any form of resistance.

As the guards strapped her in, Rarity looked to her right and saw a large window behind which was another room. In the room were Sweetie Belle, her parents, Twilight, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Scootaloo. Each of them had a solemn look on their face. Sweetie Belle put a hoof on the glass as if trying to reach out to Rarity one last time.

"Any last words?" said one of the guards. Rarity remained silent and the guard picked up the syringe.

Rarity felt the small prick as the needle went into her skin as well as a cold feeling as the fatal liquid went into her veins.

She stared deeply into Sweetie Belle's eyes and began singing to her.

"[i]Hush now, quiet now, it's time to lay your sleepy head. Hush now, quiet now, it's time to go…[/i]"


End file.
